


In Regards to Dynamics

by ICanSeeClearlyNow, Oxytreza



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha Victor Nikiforov, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Beta Katsuki Yuuri, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Katsuki Yuuri, Omega Verse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Political AU, Sex Toys, Sort Of, Star Trek References, VictUuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 09:16:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15167495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ICanSeeClearlyNow/pseuds/ICanSeeClearlyNow, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oxytreza/pseuds/Oxytreza
Summary: In a world where betas ruled, alphas and omegas were treated as less than human. After centuries of prejudice, they rebelled, commandeered a colony ship and left Earth for the Proxima Centauri system, vowing to create a new world where all people, regardless of gender, would be treated equally.200 years later, a reformed Earth approaches Proxima asking to reestablish contact and to reconcile their worlds. Victor Nikiforov, a popular and successful politician on Proxima, is chosen to lead the mission to Earth and accompany a team from Earth back to Proxima for a scientific exchange.The team from Earth consists of ordinary people descended from omegas and alphas who chose to remain on Earth. Yuuri Katsuki, a researcher into transporter technology and completely ordinary and unremarkable Earthling (a PhD and excellent service record don't count - shush Phichit!) is both thrilled and terrified at the prospect of meeting the handsome ambassador who has taken the Earth by storm.This is their story...





	1. Senator Victor Nikiforov

**Author's Note:**

> Posted for the Viktuuri Reverse Bang 2018.
> 
> I was so excited to get the opportunity to work with the wonderful [@oxytrezart](http://oxytrezart.tumblr.com/) for the bang and write for her take on the omegaverse. She has drawn some amazing art which is included in the story in Chapters 1, 4 and 6. If you want a sneak preview it's [here](https://narcissuspseudonarcissus.tumblr.com/post/175553551352/oxytrezart-in-regards-to-dynamics-read-here) on tumblr.
> 
> This AU is only very vaguely based in the Star Trek universe; we’ve changed things where convenient to fit the story.
> 
> I'm also telling you now that they don't have sex in this story (basically because there wasn't time to include it, we hope to expand this into a series one day) - read the tags.

Victor closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply, relaxing into the floral scent that permeated the evening air. Opening his eyes again he walked over to the balcony railing, leaning on the top with his glass of wine in hand to take in the view. He never failed to appreciate how the sun setting between the high-rise buildings highlighted the colours of the vegetation spilling down their sides. He had to acknowledge that he lived in one of the greenest, most beautiful parts of the city. The first colonists on Proxima had done an incredible job in designing the city of Innesey. Pollution and noise were things of the past and the city was beautiful. The quiet hum of hover cars was the background sound to Victor’s view over the city. They looked like so many insects, zipping in and out of their garages as if they were pollinating the buildings. He savoured the wine and reached down with one hand to stroke Makkachin who was leaning against his leg. Thank goodness his ancestors had brought their pets with them when they left earth.

The session in the Senate had been particularly tiring today. Victor wished once again for someone with whom he could share these everyday complaints, someone who would fill the hole in his life. The hole that Makkachin did not, could not entirely fill. He was being pressured by many people at the grand old age of 27 to choose a mate, because of his fame and political career; an outdated notion from old earth about passing on good genes.  So far not one of the sycophantic aspirants to his heart had sparked any interest. The hole in his heart had only become deeper when he had retired from the sport he loved so much and had been so successful in. He had turned to politics at the suggestion of his aunt. Releasing a deep sigh he thought back to the heated debate in the Senate, where insults had been flung from both sides in a petty display.

The subject under debate had been the extraordinary proposal from Earth concerning the reconciliation of the two planets and the opening of trade routes. The Proximan economy was healthy. Proxima was a spectacular planet made up of large archipelagos, and a lot of the population lived on the seas. The government saw that an opportunity to encourage tourism would not go amiss. There was also the opportunity to trade knowledge of technological advancements with Earth such as transporter technology.

Unfortunately a vociferous minority of members were totally against any contact at all. For some people 200 years was still not enough time to forgive. They did not want to forget the treatment the alphas and omegas had received on Earth, before the Silent Revolution and the resulting departure of the Dynamics to Proxima. The government had successfully built relationships with alien races like the Eridani. Proxima, they argued, had survived well enough on it’s own so far and didn’t need Earth.

Victor was caught in the middle of the debate. Yes, the treatment their ancestors had received was unforgivable. Alphas and Omegas had suffered horrific violence and prejudice because of their secondary genders. This formed part of the general education of students on Proxima. Children were also taught about the Silent Revolution, where the dynamics refused to cooperate with anyone and would protest by standing silently in large groups in public places for hours at a time. This forced the world government to start debating the issue. But progress was dispiriting and eventually the Dynamics, fed up with waiting, had rebelled completely and commandeered a new colony ship. They left Earth for the uninhabited planet Proxima in the Alpha Centauri B system to create their own, new world. A few had refused to come and Victor wondered what had happened to those left behind. They must have descendants who were alphas and omegas. The documentation Earth had sent seemed to suggest that prejudice no longer existed and that all dynamics on Earth were treated equitably. Victor wanted to believe it. He wanted to know how the descendants of the dynamics left on Earth had been treated; so he supported the idea of a Proximan mission to Earth to assess the situation. Public opinion seemed to be in favour as well.

Victor frowned into his wine glass, the peace he had achieved by coming out onto the balcony ruined. As he turned to go inside his contact badge rang indicating an incoming call from Premiere Lilia Baranovskaya.

He walked back into the apartment, putting the wine down on the table and settling onto the sofa before accepting the call.

“Victor, thank you for your support in the senate session this afternoon.” Lilia started briskly. She had not engaged the holovideo so Victor couldn’t see her expression or who was with her. Victor frowned deeply, he was not aware that he had provided support to Lilia. He was just interested in seeing reasonable debate. “I am unsure whether this reconciliation is a good idea, but our planet was founded on the belief in equality and rationality. Therefore my cabinet and I have decided to allow the contact with Earth. We can always terminate any further relationship if the situation on Earth is not what we’ve been led to believe. We have decided that we need to move quickly to prevent the politicians who are against reconciliation changing the currently favourable public opinion, and we need your help.” Victor grimaced; Lilia’s favours were usually more trouble than they were worth.

“Oh? What can I do for you Lilia?”

“It’s not often that I pull the family card with you Victor, but as your Aunt I am asking you to lead the diplomatic mission to Earth. We need to stop this foolishness before the population starts to believe the arguments of this addled minority.”

Victor picked up the glass of wine and took a sip to cover the sour taste in his mouth. He should have known that being reasonable would have its penalties and Lilia would not take no for an answer in this sort of mood.

“A diplomatic mission? So basically you want me to go to Earth and look into whether they’re telling the truth about the progress they’ve made.”

“I have already contacted the President of United Earth and Mr Fournier is greatly excited by the idea. He wants to welcome the mission with open arms and prove to you that the Earth has changed greatly since the day our ancestors left.”

Victor rested his head on his hand and sighed, “Lilia, you know that I am not totally in favour of this idea.”

“Yes, Victor, which is why you are the perfect candidate for the job. You are popular with the public, they see you as successful and I know you will assess the matter fairly as you have not rejected either argument yet.”

Lilia continued relentlessly before Victor could more than take a breath to interrupt, “In addition to that, our family ancestors were the leaders of the rebellion and I think it’s time we were also the means to reconciliation.”

Victor sighed, picked up his glass of wine and took a sip before replying. “I find it hard to argue against that Lilia.”

“Good, I’m glad you agree. You have one week to prepare before the Bonaventure takes you to Earth, she will continue her voyage to the Eridani system and you will bring back with you a team from Earth on one of their ships in exchange. Send me any questions you have in the meantime, and Victor?” Lilia’s voice softened slightly.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.” Lilia signed off, leaving Victor slightly stunned with his glass of wine dangling in his hand.

~

The following week was hectic as Victor tidied up currently business and attended long boring meetings on the mission. The presence of Mila Babicheva, a lively young red-haired senator from one of the other large islands, made the meetings bearable. Mila was strongly in support of the moves towards reconciliation and had no qualms in saying so.  She would be accompanying him to Earth as his aide.

Victor left it until the last minute before handing his beloved Makkachin over to his cousin Yuri for the seven weeks of the voyage to earth. Yuri had made no secret of his dislike of the mission; he was being taught all about the Silent Revolution and the cause of it at school and had no reason to believe that the attitudes on Earth had changed in 200 years.  


“You’d better come back in one piece, old man.” He said as Victor handed over Makkachin’s belongings.  


“I don’t know what you’re imagining Yuri but Earth is perfectly civilised these days.” Victor retorted.  


“A few weeks ago, when I was cursing about the history I’d just learnt, you said that earth attitudes to the Dynamics were appalling and that leaving was the best decision the leaders ever made.” Yuri spat out.  


“I had not seen the evidence for change at that point.” Victor objected mildly.  


“Tchh!” Yuri bent down to Makkachin to give her a rub behind the ears. “Well, at least you can go knowing that we’re going to look after her far better than you ever do.”  


“Yuri! That’s not true.” Victor protested.  


“Isn’t it?” Yuri moved back as Makkachin tried to lick his face. “Poor dog. Stuck in that office all day long.”  


Victor realised he wasn’t going to win this argument, even though he wanted to argue that she was never left on her own, even when he was in the senate. That she was taken for frequent walks in the parliament gardens, which gained her lots of attention from the other people walking there. He sighed and crouched down.

“Makka!” The dog came to Victor as soon as he called her. He hugged her long and hard. “Be good for Yuri, OK?” She licked away the few salty tears he hadn’t realised he was shedding. He had never left her for so long before. Victor patted Makkachin one final time and stood up. He left with a curt, “Thank you Yuri,” before he could embarrass himself more and walked out of the house.  


~

The three-week voyage to Earth on the Proximan flagship was not quite luxurious, but comfortable enough for Victor to relax. The crew were friendly and supportive of the mission and Mila got on with Captain Emil like a house on fire. Their lively discussions about politics in the recreational area during the Captain’s down time entertained the whole bar. Mila always came away grinning her head off leaving a stunned Captain behind her.

Victor looked up from the game of chess he was playing with the second in command Commander Seung-gil. Victor wondered if the man knew how to smile.

“You won again?” Victor asked. It wasn’t really a question, not with Mila’s whole body expression as proof.

“Yup!” Mila flopped down next to them and Seung-gil frowned at her.

“You should let him enjoy his down-time in peace, Mila.” Victor moved his queen.

“He likes it. He says that everyone on board treats him with too much respect to have a proper argument.” Seung-gil answered, “Checkmate.”

Victor looked at the board in surprise and Mila laughed.

~

Victor spent the majority of his time on the voyage reading the briefings that he hadn’t had time to read before they left and finding out as much information as he could about Earth. He was particularly interested in the team that had been assembled for the Earth embassy to Proxima. All of them were the descendants of alphas and omegas who had chosen to stay behind on Earth after the Silent Revolution. They had a decent set of skills between them. Yakov Feltsman was the new ambassador and the oldest member of the team. He had strong diplomatic credentials and was the most experienced member.

Flicking through the files one last time, Victor found himself lingering over one Lieutenant Katsuki. The picture on the personnel file was of a handsome, dark haired man with beautiful brown eyes and a smile that Victor found himself reaching out to trace. Victor stopped himself.

“What am I doing?” He asked himself quietly. He read the bio in detail. Interesting, Lieutenant Katsuki had a doctorate in transporter technology and several engineering qualifications. The inclusion of a transporter expert in the team was no coincidence; it was one of the conditions Proxima had demanded for their cooperation. Earth had invented transporter technology after the original colonists had left and Proxima had never had the inclination to develop their own. Lieutenant Katsuki was also listed as having very high diplomacy scores, another point in his favour. Victor was looking forward to meeting him.

Captain Emil summoned Victor and Mila to the bridge when they arrived in orbit about Earth. The night-side of the planet was quite a sight. Victor was used to the view of Proxima at night with only a few lights allowed to pollute the sky from the capital cities. The Earth was completely different; lights outlined the landmasses, reflecting the enormous population. They completed the formal call from Captain to planet and they were directed to land a shuttle at the reception area in the United Earth headquarters in Paris where President Fournier would greet them.

Captain Emil accompanied them to the shuttle bay. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you Senator Nikiforov, Senator Babicheva. I hope the rest of the mission succeeds and I look forward to catching up with you when we’re all back on Proxima.”

“Captain Emil, thank you for your hospitality. I have greatly enjoyed the chance to do quiet research on the voyage and I know Mila has enjoyed your conversations greatly.” Victor thanked the Captain.

Emil grinned widely his eyes sparkling. “Not as much as I have! I’ve had a great time and I’m looking forward to catching up with you next time I come home Mila!”

Mila stepped forward and hugged Emil tightly the captain hugged back just as hard, Victor smiled and said, “Good luck with your mission to the Eridani system, those medical supplies are desperately needed.”

“Thank you, and good luck to both of you.”

As the shuttle left the bay, Mila grinned and nudged Victor, “So, Victor, or should I say Ambassador Nikiforov from now on? I’m so excited! I wonder what it’s really like?”

“Frankly, I’m hoping that the next week will be boring, because the alternative would not really achieve what we want.” Victor replied dryly.

“Ah, don’t be a dull stick. Where’s the Victor I used to know? The one who could entertain the entire senate with a speech on the dullest subject.”

“I shall have to find him before we land.” Victor replied, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes.

~

As the shuttle approached the ground, both Victor and Mila leaned forward in their seats. They were going to land in the city of Paris. As the shuttle flew down it passed over the ancient part of the city and flew towards an enormous square arch in the distance surrounded by tall high-rise buildings. They admired the ornamental gardens stretched out through the middle of the arch as the shuttle came to land in front of the United Earth Headquarters.

“Nice, but not as nice as Proxima,” Mila commented and Victor hummed in agreement. His attention was focused on the group of people waiting on a red line extending to a hover car, and the rather large crowd that was being kept behind a force-field barrier. He wondered what their reception was going to be. Was the public feeling on Earth in favour or against the reconciliation?

A cool breeze carrying the scent of roses ruffled Victor’s hair as they stepped out of the shuttle. It was a pity they weren’t going to stay longer, Victor thought. It would be interesting to experience seasons actually changing whilst staying in the same place. He recognised President Fournier and standing off to one side was Yakov Feltsman. The welcome seemed friendly enough and Victor wasn’t sensing any overt hostility from the crowd, who were fairly quiet. He walked confidently down to greet the President knowing Mila was right behind him.

“Welcome to earth, Ambassador Nikiforov, Envoy Babicheva.” The President smiled and stepped forward, holding out his hand.

“We were honoured by your invitation, President Fournier,” Victor responded, gripping the president’s hand in return. “I have to admit to being surprised by such a large crowd.”

“People are curious, Ambassador. Let me introduce you…” The President then turned to introduce them to the assembled dignitaries, but Victor tuned out most of the formalities. He was used to putting on a performance for an audience. It was what politicians did. Any awkward questions would come later in a more private setting. Victor did pay attention to Yakov Feltsman. He would, after all, be working closely with the man. As they were guided into the hover car Victor waved to the crowd, tossing his fringe out of his eyes at the same time. There were some faint delighted screams from the crowd and Victor smiled, raising an eyebrow at the President, who laughed.

“Pictures of you have been circulating on Earth ever since the news of your visit was broadcast a week ago. You may have accumulated a group of fans who,” the president smiled and coughed, “think you’re rather good looking.”

Victor coloured slightly, he knew he was good looking, far too many people had told him so on Proxima, speculation was rife in the media as to when he was going to get a mate. He was used to the attention, but it was unexpected here considering the history between the worlds.

“I shall try not to let it affect our relationship President Fournier.” Victor smiled reassuringly.

~

Victor found the full week of events celebrating their presence on Earth exhausting. He gave a speech to the Assembly of United Earth; they had toured cities and saw many new technological advances that would be of great use to Proxima. Victor was still not sure about the transporters they used to beam across the world from site to site. He was still sceptical of the Earth government’s motivations for the reconciliation, disliking the only media interview he had agreed to. Yakov had assured him the interviewer would be screened carefully, but this one still subtly tried to dig for dirt on the attitudes prevalent on Proxima. Yakov assured Victor afterwards that he had handled it perfectly and his popularity had increased enormously after the interview was screened. The public admired Victor for his openness and honesty even though some elements of the media were sceptical about the perfect picture he was painted of life on Proxima. The President had called Victor after the interview with profuse apologies for the way it had gone.

“What do you think Victor?” Mila was standing in front of Victor in an emerald dress, her red hair swept into an ornate crown on top of her head.

“You look fantastic. People will fall at your feet, Mila.” Victor smiled at her, in response Mila stuck out her tongue.

“Look at you!’ She walked up to Victor and then round him, taking in the gold trimmed pink jacket, the black open neck shirt underneath and the tight black trousers. She brushed an invisible speck off his shoulder, “very nice.” She hooked her arm through his, “shall we go?”

“Last event before we meet the final two team members tomorrow and then hopefully a peaceful journey back to Proxima. I’ve had such a great time!” Mila bounced slightly on the balls of her feet and looked far too young and enthusiastic to be a respectable member of the government on Proxima. Mila had been having a lot of fun pretending to be an airhead and then casually puncturing the posturing of whoever was pontificating, with her in-depth knowledge of economics.

Yakov was waiting for them in the lobby of the luxurious building where they had been assigned quarters. “You’ll do,” he commented.

Yakov explained after the interview that there was still a lot of hidden prejudice for people like him, who had Alpha or Omega origins. Governments across the world were actively trying to change attitudes. It was taking a while, even though laws had been introduced against discrimination many years earlier. That was one reason the President had been pushing so hard for the reconciliation; to show the sceptical minority that Proxima was a model to be emulated not looked down on. Since then he had directed Victor and Mila to numerous historical articles showing how much things had changed since the Silent Revolution.

The gruff man had grown on both of them over the course of the week. Mila now treated him like a member of her family, teasing and winding him up, while Victor was casually respectful and only made Yakov tear his hair out when he rushed over to greet any and every dog they came across.

Tonight’s ball was a final chance for the elite to suck up to Victor and Mila. A final chance for them to jockey for position in courting their favour. The final chance for Victor and Mila to show off their own planet and perform as the ambassadors for Proxima. Tomorrow they would be meeting the two final members of the embassy. Victor did not want to admit just how much time he had spent thinking about Lieutenant Katsuki over the past week, disappointed that they had not met earlier. Until now, they had both been on different continents.

They arrived to a barrage of media; their popularity was so high that every media outlet on the planet had converged on the final opportunity to obtain a quote or a picture. Victor endured the banquet; it was, after all held in their honour. Mila sparkled and charmed. Victor charmed and entertained. They made a formidable couple, to such an extent that they had to keep reminding people they weren’t. Victor felt exhausted by the end of the evening.

“My feet are killing me.” Mila threw off her shoes as soon as they were in the transport.

“I’m not surprised the amount you danced.” Yakov said. He looked much more tired than they were.

“Just doing my job Yakov and the music is good here.” She patted his knee reassuringly.

“I need you both ready for 10 o’clock tomorrow morning when we travel to DSEC in Detroit.”

“That will not be a problem. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the Deep Space Exploration Centre for a while.” Victor leaned back and closed his eyes. He was finally going to meet the attractive Lieutenant Katsuki.

~

They sat back in the comfortable seats in the shuttle, Mila and Victor sitting opposite Yakov. The large window beside them giving a view of the megacity of Washington spread out below them. Yakov leaned forward and coughed awkwardly.

“I did not want to mention before now, but the Admiral we’re going to see today is a little, old-fashioned in his views.” Yakov said.

“In what way,” Victor frowned, still looking out of the window.

“He is one of those reactionaries who still believe that the Dynamics are inferior,” Victor raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Yakov. “DSEC has been trying to get him to retire for years I believe, but he has a very long, honourable record and I think they’ve decided to wait for him to decide to go on his own.” Yakov paused and then smiled, “I think you’ll like Captain Cialdini though, we’ve met several times and he is very friendly.”

Victor grimaced, “I look forward to meeting the Captain then and will do my best with the Admiral.”

Yakov smiled, “I’m sure you can charm him just the way you charm everyone else Victor.” Mila laughed from her seat.

The headquarters of DSEC were impressive and extensive, occupying a significant part of the Detroit megacity outskirts. As the plane flew in to land in front of the buildings and they disembarked, Victor felt that the whole area had the atmosphere of a university with students lazing on the lawns and people walking between buildings. The weather was cooler here than Washington, but at least it was warmer than Paris. Victor and Mila had felt cold their entire time on Earth. They preferred the warmer, permanent tropical weather on Innesey.

The Admiral’s slightly hostile assistant showed them into his office. Victor exchanged glances with Mila and they both squared their shoulders. His attitude did not bode well for the meeting. The assistant introduced them to the occupants of the room and bowed out. The white-haired Admiral stood slowly, almost reluctantly, but the Captain, Celestino Cialdini if Victor remembered properly, was already walking towards them past the two young men who had immediately stood on their entrance, his hand stretched out in greeting.

“It’s good to finally meet you Ambassador Nikiforov, Envoy Babicheva. We’ve been watching the news casts and you’ve certainly made quite the impression on Earth.” Captain Cialdini shook hands with them both, grinning broadly.

“We look forward to travelling with you on the Valiant Captain.” Victor replied.

“This is Admiral Bennett, in charge of the planet side administration of DSEC. He is responsible for mission assignments.” They both bowed their heads to the man who honestly looked like he’d swallowed something unpalatable, acknowledging the fact that the Admiral seemed disinclined to come closer.

“Humpf, I’m glad to have been able to assign Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki and Lieutenant Chulanont to the mission. They will work hard for you.” He said this with a glare in the direction of the two younger men.

“And this is Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki and Lieutenant Chulanont.” Victor raised an eyebrow as the two younger men stood to attention. “As you probably know,” Captain Cialdini continued, “Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki is an expert on transporter technology and Lieutenant Chulanont is a communications expert. They will be invaluable help once you reach Proxima.”

“Congratulations on your promotion Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki.” Victor had noticed the change in title and the younger man blushed and bowed deeply.

“Th…thanks.” He faltered. Victor swallowed, the Lieutenant was even more adorable in the flesh than his picture suggested. He realised he was staring when Mila nudged his waist and he forced his attention back to the Captain and the Admiral. There was a faint pleasant citrus smell in the air; Victor assumed that the air conditioning had been programmed to emit scents, but something was different. He frowned; he would have to ask Mila about it later. But for now, there was politics to deal with and a hostile Admiral to placate.


	2. Lieutenant Katsuki Yuuri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to the first chapter has been overwhelming, thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments, so inspiring and humbling. We hope you enjoy chapter 2.

Yuuri picked his meal out of the replicator and looked at it mournfully. The replicator food never quite managed to match his mother’s katsudon. Taking the bowl and chopsticks to the table he kneeled and waited for the rest of his family. He confirmed the call as soon as the computer indicted that his parents were calling and eagerly watched the images form around him.

“Yuuri!” His mother came into view just putting the last bowl on the table. Mari and Toshiya on each side of her.

“Hi Mum, Dad, Mari!” A small wuff sounded from below table level and Mari patted her lap for Vicchan to climb on so that Yuuri could see him.

“How are things going this week Yuuri?” Hiroko asked settling down at the table and picking up her chopsticks. Yuuri wished for the hundredth time that this was real and he was actually surrounded by his family and dog back home, rather than having a 3D image of them that he couldn’t touch at the table.

“Boring as usual. They announce the new mission assignments tomorrow so I’m hoping I may get to go somewhere interesting this time. I feel I deserve something more after that last assignment. Anyway, anything happen at the onsen?” Yuuri tried to change the subject, but Mari was tenacious and his family seemed to be ridiculously proud of his achievements for some reason.

Mari gestured angrily, “it’s so crap the way you get treated Yuuri! They had no right to treat you like that on the last mission. That science officer was way out of line, your qualifications outdid his by several degrees and he had the gall to try to make out you didn’t know what you were talking about. Just because Grandma was an omega does not mean that any of us are lesser!” Vicchan barked as if he was agreeing with Mari.

“There’s no need to drag up ancient history Mari,” Hiroko said. “Things have changed so much since the Silent Revolution. Look at the way the world leaders are reaching out to Proxima. The arrival of that Ambassador certainly seems to be changing people’s ideas if the media reports are to be believed. They’ve also changed so many of the laws protecting the few alphas and omegas that are left on earth from discrimination. Things have changed a lot since your grandmother’s day and are still changing, some people find that hard to accept, but they will have to. I’m sure Yuuri will do very well Mari, once his qualities are fully recognised.”

“Mum!” Yuuri groaned.

“Yuuri, you’re clever, you graduated top of your class. You have a doctorate for heaven's sake. Your study and flight records at DSEC are nearly perfect and yet you aren’t given the respect you deserve. Don’t tell me that’s not prejudice. Once you are given an opportunity, you’ll be able to show them that you can do it.” Hiroko had a determined look on her face. It was quite rare to see his usually calm mother so worked up.

“I’ll do my best Mum.”

“I know you will dear, and we’ll all be thinking of you tomorrow when you find out your mission details.”

The talk then segued to the running of the onsen. Although Yuuri’s career path had taken him in a different direction he was still keen to hear about the town he grew up in and his parent’s business.

The conversation finally dried up and Mari leaned back, “look after yourself, wherever you end up Yuuri.”

“Let us know where you’re being posted and for how long!” his mother said before standing up from the table.

Yuuri stood too and bent down, reaching out to the slightly transparent image of his dog and wished with all his heart that he could feel himself stroking Vicchan in reality. He stood up and gave his parents a hug each, tears pricking his eyes, as he held nothing but the image.

“Goodbye Yuuri, we’ll call again soon.”

Yuuri cleared the call and collected his plate and chopsticks from his small table to put in the replicator. Family meals were lovely but they reminded him so much of home that he felt out of sorts all evening afterwards. With the mission assignments being posted tomorrow he knew he wouldn’t get much sleep.

He replicated a cup of tea and wandered back to the reclining chair in his small living area. He pulled up a screen and started to browse through news channels, lingering on a vid of the Proximan Ambassador Victor Nikiforov, who had arrived on Earth nearly a week ago. Yuuri reluctantly admitted that the man was handsome. The Ambassador was tall with short silver hair that flopped over one of his bright blue eyes. His appearance certainly drew attention, like his companion Envoy Mila Babicheva, a stunningly beautiful red-haired woman. She was apparently an omega, but certainly didn’t behave how everyone was expected her to.

Yuuri watched the Ambassador stepping off the shuttle. His irritation grew when he heard the commentator speculating about the relationship between the alpha man and the omega woman. They would have done better to send an omega as the Ambassador, giving a clear signal that they regarded omegas as equal to alphas on Proxima. Neatly puncturing any arguments the prejudiced minority may make. Yuuri rubbed his neck in frustration, clicking onto the next vid of the visit. He watched vids as the pair travelled from Europe to Beijing, Gaborone, Buenos Aires and finally Washington. He wasn’t going to admit his attraction to the Ambassador. He wasn’t going to be some dumb omega-descended person who would be attracted to an alpha just because they were an alpha.

There was no doubt that the Ambassador knew the effect he had on people too. That silly move when he first arrived, tossing his overly long fringe back and the wave to the crowd that had people screaming. Ugh! Yuuri became conscious of the way his fingers were clenched around the cup in his hand to the point of breaking it. He forced his fingers to let go and placed the cup in the replicator, carefully programming in a new cup of tea to replace the one he had let go cold.

Yuuri leaned on the wall and scrubbed at his face, trying to work out why he was so upset. He supposed that it was the first time he had seriously read up on the visit. He had been catching snippets of news ever since the ambassador had arrived. The media had been constantly running speculations about a trade deal between the two planets, which had been estranged for over two centuries.

The event was known as The Flight of the Dynamics; a planet-wide rebellion by the alphas and omegas over their treatment by the majority of normal humans. It lasted over three years and resulted in the departure of the alphas and omegas from the planet. They took over the next colony ship scheduled to depart. Earth had been reeling from the departure for year afterwards, the whole system of economics had to be rebuilt. No one had any idea where the colonists had gone until decades later. Yuuri’s Grandmother was descended from one of the few omegas that had elected to stay on Earth. The omega had been happily married with a family and refused to leave, despite the risk of recriminations from the population.

So much of the history of that time had been distorted over the years that historians still argued about it today. Some people even going to the point of claiming that the videos showing the conditions that some omegas were forced to live in were fabricated. Yuuri didn’t know what to think, but there was no doubting that some prejudice still existed, after all, he was suffering from it now.

Just as Yuuri pushed himself off the wall to collect his fresh cup of tea the computer indicated an incoming holo call from Admiral Bennett. Yuuri groaned. This Admiral was one of the desk bound pen pushers in DSEC, both Yuuri and Phichit knew he was one of the reasons why neither of them had been promoted as much as they deserved, one of the worst misomegists they had ever come across. Hopefully he would be due for retirement soon. Yuuri accepted the call as soon as he had straightened his hair and as the image of the Admiral sitting at his desk appearing in front of him he forced a polite smile onto his face.

“Admiral Bennett, Sir!”

“Lieutenant Katsuki. Good evening.” The Admiral was frowning at him severely, but then that was nothing new, Yuuri had never actually seen him smile.

“Your next mission details will be given to you tomorrow afternoon.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Your scores on diplomacy were unusually high, probably due to your omega origins,” Yuuri seethed quietly. It wasn’t the first time that his omega heritage had lead to comments like that but you couldn’t call out an admiral for misomegist behaviour. “You will come to my office at 1330 hours to receive your briefing.”

Yuuri’s mouth went dry, “yes, Sir!”

“Any questions?”

“No, Sir!” The Admiral nodded at Yuuri and ended the call. Shit!  _ Any questions? _ Of course Yuuri had questions, but it was an unspoken rule that you did not question any officer except your immediate superior, especially with an old fart like Admiral Bennett. He found that his hands were shaking and walked back to his chair, sinking into it before remembering his tea in the replicator, oh for fuck’s sake. Yuuri practiced his breathing exercises to quell the rising tide of anxiety induced by the admiral’s call and a few minutes later rose to redo his tea, again.

This time he actually had his fresh cup of tea in hand before the incoming call notice chimed with a call from Captain Cialdini. This time he had the forethought to place it near the chair before answering the call.

Yuuri checked his clothes were still in order, not realising that his hair was still a mess from where he had been running his fingers through it in exasperation after the admiral’s call. The image of Ciao Ciao, as Yuuri and Phichit had privately named him, sitting at his desk in the Captain’s ready room appeared in front of him.

“Yuuri!” Ciao Ciao smiled at Yuuri and Yuuri smiled back. Of all the people he had worked for in DSEC, the Captain was his favourite. Cialdini was cheerful, but serious when needed, always expecting the best from his crew, and Yuuri tried to deliver.

“Captain Cialdini.”

“Yuuri, I’ve just received the briefing from Admiral Bennett on our next mission. I’ll be joining you at the meeting tomorrow afternoon in the Admiral’s office.”

Yuuri sighed in relief. Ciao Ciao noticed the relieved look on Yuuri’s face, “Don’t worry, did Admiral Bennett tell you that Phichit will be there too?”

“No, sir.” Yuuri began to smile again. If Phichit was going to be there as well as Ciao Ciao then the matter was a ship-wide issue and not about Yuuri himself.

“Very well, I have also been asked to keep the mission a secret, so I can’t talk about it now. But Yuuri, this is a real chance for you to show people that you’re more than a stereotype. Please turn up in your formal uniform and don’t be too nervous. We’re all behind you in this. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ciao Ciao waved his hand and faded out.

Yuuri took a few moments to allow himself to freak out, again. What did Ciao Ciao mean,  _ we’re all behind you in this _ ; that didn’t sound like a ship-wide issue? That sounded like a Yuuri specific issue, and what had the Admiral meant by his comments about Yuuri’s diplomacy scores? This was something major, the words diplomacy and formal uniform connected in Yuuri’s head – surely not? He was struck by a sudden urge to visit Phichit; he had to talk to his best friend before he overthought everything into a full-blown panic attack.

Luckily Phichit’s quarters were only on the other side of the corridor and Yuuri barely waited for the door to slide open before barrelling into the apartment.

“Phichit! Did you get the calls?”

”Come in Yuuri, do you want a tea?” Phichit’s voice came from the kitchen and Yuuri headed straight for him.

“Yes, please, you’re a lifesaver! I’ve had three cups go cold on me so far this evening.” Yuuri leaned on the partition between the kitchen and living space fidgeting impatiently while he watched Phichit request two teas from the replicator. Phichit glanced over at Yuuri with a grin and raised an eyebrow at Yuuri’s fidgeting.

“So?” Yuuri asked again.

“Yes, I got calls from Admiral Bennett and Ciao Ciao.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Phichit!! What do you think? About the mission?”

Phichit handed Yuuri the steaming cup and narrowed his eyes. “How much would you be prepared to bet that Ambassador Nikiforov will be at that meeting tomorrow?”

Yuuri groaned, “A lot, that’s what I was thinking too. Admiral Bennett…” Phichit made a derogatory noise, “made a comment about my diplomacy scores and Ciao Ciao wanted us to wear formal uniform.  It’s not exactly a big logical leap to make.”

“So,” Phichit said, “what do you think about the ambassador, huh?”

Yuuri frowned, “he’s handsome I suppose, but…”

“Stop! Stop right there. Handsome is he?” Phichit grinned and threw his arm around Yuuri, “my friend is enamoured!”

“What? Phichit! No. I just...Oh my god, will you stop. Everyone thinks he’s handsome. It’s the first thing they all say. And he’s an alpha and so…” Yuuri waved his hands vaguely.

“OK, first you never call anyone handsome. You’ve never even shown the slightest interest in anyone despite people regularly throwing themselves at you, and the first thing you say about Victor Nikiforov is that he’s handsome.”

“What?” Yuuri did throw off Phichit’s arm this time, turning to face him, “What are you talking about. People don’t throw themselves at me.”

“Yuuri, “Phichit voice became patient, “you might be one of the most intelligent engineers out there but you are completely oblivious when it comes to flirting. I won’t list all the instances but remember Cara?”

“I…” Yuuri trailed off. At the time he had just ignored her over friendliness as being just a bouncy personality, but when she had thrown her arms around him in the hospital when one of his friends was injured on a training exercise he had pushed her away without thinking. “Look, this is beside the point. The meeting tomorrow must be about the mission and we’re going on it together! That’s what I’d rather talk about.”

“I’m not going to let this go so easily, Yuuri,” Phichit had serious expression on his face. “Secondly, and more importantly, I don’t think those old prejudices against alphas really apply in this case. I’ve watched a few of the videos and that speech he gave. He seems completely normal to me. We need to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

“You’re right.” Yuuri admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ve suffered enough prejudice to not want to do the same to someone else.” Yuuri paused, “we’re going to Proxima aren’t we?”

“Probably. I wonder what sort of team they’re gathering? You and I are both descended from omegas; I think one of the news reports I saw said that Yakov Feltsman was descended from an alpha,” Phichit said. “Do you think the whole team is going to be made up of descendants of alphas and omegas?”

“Possibly,” Yuuri shrugged. “Mr Feltsman seems OK though, he been responsible for a lot of progress and there’s quite a few people working under him who are descendants.”

“Yeah.” They settled into silent contemplation until Phichit suggested rewatching The King and the Skater for the thousandth time. Yuuri went along with it because he didn’t want to overthink tomorrow’s meeting and work himself into an anxiety attack.

~

Adjusting his formal pristine white outfit for the twentieth time and checking his hair in the mirror Yuuri took a deep breath and walked out to greet Phichit who had just knocked on the door. Phichit was also dressed in the white formal uniform with the blue and red arm stripes indicting their lieutenant rank. He was bouncing slightly on his toes, as he looked Yuuri up and down.

“You’ll do.” Phichit grinned, “Come on. Don’t want to be late for our date with the ‘handsome’ Ambassador.”

“Phichit!” Yuuri grabbed Phichit by the arm and marched him off to the turbolifts that would take them to the building where all the senior officers had their offices. “No teasing, please.”

Phichit looked at Yuuri seriously, “Yuuri, you’ll be fine, despite Admiral Bennett being a dull stick who should have been born two centuries ago. Ciao Ciao will be there and me. Stop worrying.”

Yuuri gave Phichit a small smile and stepped into the lift after him.

Phichit grabbed Yuuri’s hand in the turbolift to stop Yuuri picking apart the seam of his formal jacket. “It’s going to be great Yuuri! A trip with Ciao Ciao and me! You’ll be fine.”

Yuuri nodded to Phichit and shook out his hands. He put his shoulders back. He could do this. He was going to do it and if the ambassador behaved just like Yuuri imagined an alpha would behave then Yuuri would just ignore it. Like he and Phichit did the other slights they received from a few people who knew their heritage.

The assistant showed them straight through into the Admiral’s office.

“Admiral Bennett, sir. Lieutenant Yuuri Katsuki and Lieutenant Phichit Chulanont.”

“Thank you Trent.” The assistant withdrew and shut the door.

As Yuuri and Phichit entered the luxurious office their eyes were draw first to the huge picture window overlooking the megacity of Detroit. Admiral Bennett was sitting at his large desk with elbows on the desk and his fingers folded underneath his chin frowning at the two young men. Ciao Ciao was sitting to the side of the desk. Yuuri could feel his face flushing uncomfortably underneath the Admiral’s stare. The Admiral frowned down at the padds in front of him and then looked up again. His frown deepened.

“You may sit down,” Yuuri and Phichit sat nervously in the chairs facing the desk. As far as he could sense the Admiral was deeply unhappy with the situation but Yuuri couldn’t determine why. Was it just the Admiral’s prejudices showing?

The Admiral handed them both an information padd. “Here is your mission briefing, I would like you to read it carefully.”

There was silence in the room while Yuuri and Phichit read through the information. Yuuri could feel his jaw slowly dropping in amazement and a numb feeling spread through his body as he read the classified details of their mission. He slowly looked up when he had finished, and numbly handed the tablet back to the admiral. Phichit handed his back too and they exchanged a quick glance.

The Admiral humphed and frowned again. “Do you accept the mission?”

“Yes Sir!” They both replied immediately.

“Any questions?” The Admiral glared from under his bushy grey eyebrows.

Yuuri and Phichit both sneaked glances at Ciao Ciao who nodded faintly.

“Sir, can I ask why my rank is different in the mission details?” Yuuri said.

“Humph, seems perfectly clear to me. The mission comes with a promotion for you and as of now you are Lieutenant-Commander Yuuri Katsuki, congratulations.” Yuuri’s head was spinning as Phichit leaned over and clapped him on the shoulder. No wonder the Admiral was so grumpy. He must have had the promotion forced on him by the politicians. Phichit was shown as the ships communications officer, not a promotion, but definitely a step up.

“Congratulations Lieutenant-Commander!” Yuuri could see that Ciao Ciao was trying not to grin.

“Thank you sir,” Yuuri replied.

The Admiral coughed uncomfortably, “well, back to business. In a few minutes you will meet Ambassador Nikiforov, Envoy Babicheva and Ambassador Feltsman. Your mission briefing provided you with basic details of all three of them and the other two members of the embassy who you will meet on board the Valiant tomorrow. We expect exemplary behaviour at all times on Proxima you are the representatives of the whole of the Earth–”

A knock on the door interrupted the Admiral in his pontificating. It opened to the grumpy face of the assistant, who introduced the three people with him.

Yuuri and Phichit immediately stood as Ciao Ciao walked rapidly past them to shake hands with the diplomats. Ciao Ciao completed the introductions and when he came to Yuuri and Phichit they both stood to attention aware of the Admiral glaring from behind them. Yuuri flushed slightly hearing Ciao Ciao singing his praises.

“Congratulations on your promotion Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki.” The Ambassador said warmly.

Yuuri coloured and bowed deeply, “th…thanks.” The Ambassador was just as charming in the flesh as he looked on the vids. Yuuri was annoyed at his stuttering and forced himself to look away to greet the Envoy and Mr Feltsman. There was a faint perfume in the air like salty sea air and mint, but Yuuri couldn’t pinpoint from whom it was coming. Envoy Babicheva seemed to be bubbly when she greeted him and Phichit. Yuuri could feel himself warming to her straight away and from the grin on Phichit’s face Yuuri could see that he was already planning pranks and mischief. Yuuri could sense the stiff-necked Admiral getting irritated with her.

“Please take a seat,” the admiral gestured to a hard looking sofa to one side and Yakov indicated that the two Proximans should take the seat.

“I will stand.” Mr Feltsman said gruffly.

“Welcome to you all,” the Admiral said stiffly. “It is a great honour to see you here, Ambassador Nikiforov and Envoy Babicheva.” Yuuri had to bite his lip, the Admiral sounded bland but Yuuri knew that every word was being forced out. The two Proximans smiled politely, “I hope you have enjoyed the week on Earth and it leads to great things for the future of our two planets. I hope you have time for Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki and Lieutenant Chulanont to spend the rest of the afternoon showing you the facilities we have here at DSEC.” Yuuri swallowed, why hadn’t they been told about this! This was incredibly unfair. He gripped his hands together to stop them shaking.

“We would be delighted to see the facilities DSEC has to offer and the beautiful campus. It will be a wonderful opportunity to get to know our last two teammates properly before we depart for home.” Ambassador Nikiforov said all this with an enthusiastic smile and sparkling eyes looking directly at Yuuri. For some reason Yuuri found it hard to look away.

The Admiral coughed with what Yuuri assumed to be embarrassment and said, “well, that seems to be enough introductions all round. Captain Cialdini will brief you on the rest.” He sat back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap rigidly.

Ciao Ciao stepped forward and smiled at Yuuri and Phichit. “As you read in the mission briefing you are being assigned to the diplomatic embassy to Proxima.  We are travelling on the Valiant and the voyage will last 3 weeks. The embassy itself will last indefinitely. Are you both clear on your duties for the mission?”

Yuuri and Phichit both said “Yes, Captain.”

“That’s good. You will report on board at 0900 tomorrow morning.” Ciao Ciao paused, “Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki and Lieutenant Chulanont, I want to say that I’m very pleased you’ve both been selected for this mission, you both deserve this opportunity and I’m looking forward to having you in my crew again.”

Yuuri blushed thanking the Captain and trying to avoid looking at the Ambassador who was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees staring intently at Yuuri.

“If you will excuse us Sir,” Ciao Ciao continued facing the Admiral, we will start the tour. Thank you for your time this morning.” Ciao Ciao nodded his head to the Admiral and gestured for the Ambassadors and The Envoy to leave ahead of him.

~

As soon as they were out of the building Phichit gripped Yuuri’s shoulder and when Yuuri turned to look give him a thumbs up gesture and whispered, “go for it Yuuri!” Yuuri just glared at him and walked forward leaving Phichit giggling behind him.  Envoy Babicheva turned, smiled and waited for Phichit to catch up, linking her arm through his.

“So, Lieutenant Chulanont! Can I call you Phichit? It’s such a mouthful otherwise and you can call me Mila.” She smiled even brighter than before when Phichit stumbled out a taken-aback “Yes.”

“Great! So Phichit where are you from?” Mila asked.

“I’m from Thailand, on the eastern continental mass.”

“Please tell me about it, I’d love to hear more, is it like Beijing?” Mila said

Phichit started to enthusiastically tell Mila about the highlights of Thailand, especially the temple of Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. Yuuri tuned out their chatter and tried to focus on the discussion about the differences in the command structures of the fleets between the two worlds going on in front of him.

When the discussion shifted to Ambassador Feltsman and Ciao Ciao arguing the merits of drone exploration of new system as opposed to sending in a fully manned vessel, Ambassador Nikiforov excused himself from the conversation and dropped back, falling in beside Yuuri as they walked across the campus to the research centre. Yuuri gave him nervous glances as they walked, not wanting to be rude, but completely silenced by his insecurities and nervousness of the Ambassador beside him. The smell of sea salt and mint was back again; it must be the Ambassador wearing the perfume. Yuuri desperately searched for a topic of conversation.

“I like the cologne you’re wearing.” Yuuri started and then wished the ground would open up in front of him. Mentally slapping himself and going,  _ what…did I just say?! _

“What is cologne?”

Yuuri’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. “It’s a sort of perfume, usually worn by men.”

The Ambassador still looked slightly puzzled so Yuuri continued, “a scent made from chemicals to make you smell a certain way.”

“Ah, I understand, that’s very interesting Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki.” The Ambassador edged slightly closer and Yuuri sidled away a bit, uncomfortable with the invasion of his personal  space by a real-live alpha but not wanting to be rude. Yuuri tried to talk himself up; he shouldn’t appear to be meek and submissive; willing to do whatever an alpha wanted. He had just been promoted. He could do this.

“I apologise, I meant no disrespect. Is it rude to say that on Proxima?” Yuuri was struggling to be diplomatic when all he wanted to do was get this over with as quickly as possible.

“No, not at all, it’s just not at all common to comment on someone’s scent.” the Ambassador reassured Yuuri.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Yuuri apologised again and quickly found a new topic. “I was wondering why Proxima is interested in reconciling with Earth?”

The Ambassador smiled, “When we received the proposal from Earth there were a lot of people against the idea, but the government were curious and wanted to find out more about the situation on Earth now.  How Alphas and Omegas were treated compared to when we had to leave. The offer of help with new communications technology and transporter technology helped too. I believe that’s your area of expertise, Lieutenant Commander.”

"Yes, it is. We're heading towards my research area now and you'll be able to see the latest developments." Yuuri wondered if he was showing off too much and then realised that he was out to show this man that he was as good as any alpha from Proxima.

The Ambassador leaned in and said quietly, “I’ve certainly been impressed so far, but I find I’m not at all comfortable with using transporters.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not alone.” Yuuri backed away again, wishing the alpha would stop doing that. “A lot of people don’t like it, some even develop phobias about it. But transporter technology has been reliable for decades. You’re far more likely to have an accident in space than from a transporter.” Yuuri gave a small smile and fidgeted with the hem of his uniform jacket before squaring his shoulders. He wasn’t going to go all shy on this alpha who kept invading his space. If the Ambassador was going to be a typical alpha, then Yuuri was  _ not _ going to behave like he was intimidated. He walked forward resolutely, determined to impress the man standing beside him. Yuuri relaxed as he became more fervent and preoccupied with describing his research. The Ambassador was interested, but seemed to understand Yuuri’s need for space and did not make Yuuri uncomfortable again.

~

Back at Yuuri’s small apartment, Phichit closed the door behind himself and watched as Yuuri collapsed onto the sofa. He could tell that Yuuri was close to breaking point and had been carefully holding himself together all afternoon. He sat down next to Yuuri, careful not to touch him. “Are you OK Yuuri?”

Yuuri didn’t say anything and didn’t move, but Phichit noticed his hands clenched into tighter fists. Phichit waited patiently, he knew the symptoms of Yuuri’s anxiety by now and this didn’t look like a serious bout. Eventually Yuuri sighed with a catch in his breath.

“I’m sorry for teasing you yesterday Yuuri. I didn’t want to upset you.” Phichit started.

“It’s OK Phichit,” Yuuri said in a low voice, “I just… I just,” he looked up at Phichit, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Phichit waited for Yuuri to speak again.

“He was so,” Yuuri raked his hands through his hair and sighed, “intense.”

Phichit laughed, “I was impressed by some of the questions he asked, although that one about bugs in the matrix, ugh, really?”

“Yeah, I’ve never had a literal bug come out of any transporter yet so I think we’re safe there.” Yuuri laughed shakily.

“Mila was cool! I liked her.” Phichit knew that he needed to distract Yuuri from over-thinking the afternoon and got up to fetch a drink. “Want a drink?”

Yuuri nodded, “Mila was nice,” he looked thoughtful. “I was surprised how confident she is.”

“Why shouldn’t she be?” Phichit collected the drinks from the replicator and sat back down next to Yuuri.

“...Because she’s an omega?” Yuuri looked at Phichit in surprise, taken aback at his lack of understanding. They had  both experienced prejudice from those people who found out their omega heritage. But then Phichit’s family were well known and rich in Thailand, it was unlikely that he had experienced the same sort of prejudice as Yuuri.

Phichit placed his glass on the table and crossed his arms. “What’s that got to do with it? She’s a senator on Proxima. It probably means that things are more equal there.” He said with a note of exasperation in his voice.

“I suppose you’re right, they did leave the planet because of the way they were treated.” Yuuri admitted looking down into his glass.

Phichit nudged Yuuri with his elbow so that he looked up and grinned, “Hey, stop worrying! I’m coming with you too! So I can brighten up your day and prank the Ambassador if he gets too much!”

“What! No! Sheesh Phichit, you can’t do that, you’ll get court-martialled.” Yuuri waved his hands at Phichit in horror.

Phichit winked, “Not if Mila suggested it in the first place.”

“Oh My God, what have they done, putting you two together.” Yuuri face was a picture, a satisfying blend of amusement and horror.

Phichit laughed at Yuuri’s reaction, “I’m joking...well mostly. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, I suppose we’d better start packing, it’s an early start tomorrow.” Yuuri rose to his feet and wiped at his face. “Thank you Phichit, I don’t know what I’d do without you around.”

“No problem, Yuuri, you’re my best friend after all. See you tomorrow!” Phichit grinned, waved and showed himself out, crossing his fingers that Yuuri would be fine now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 goes up on the 11th July! See you then :)


	3. Skating around the Issue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally understand more about Yuuri's problem with Victor

Yuuri looked at the large pile of belongings that had been transported aboard the Valiant early this morning. Even though his quarters on board were larger than before there was certainly no room, or time to unpack everything he had brought with him for an extended stay on Proxima. He would just have to unpack the things he needed for the voyage and push everything else to one side.

The first day of the voyage was fairly quiet. Everyone in the embassy had been allowed a day to settle in before the formal officers and guests dinner that was a traditional start to any voyage. Yuuri and Phichit were members of the embassy, but they were also expected to take bridge shifts like normal crewmembers on the journey. It was going to be a confusing line to draw.

Yuuri wanted to take the opportunity to unpack and to read. He had some research papers he had been saving up to review and wanted to think about the latest developments in extending the reach of transporters. Yuuri wondered about the current level of technology on Proxima and how many people he would have working with him on the setup. _That would be a neutral question to ask the Ambassador_ , he thought. He wasn’t so pathetic that he wanted to avoid the man for the entire journey.

The official dinner was at the back of Yuuri’s mind all through the day. The low level feeling of anxiety made it difficult to concentrate on his research. Although he had been on a few space missions he found the officer’s dinner the hardest part. Yuuri closed his eyes and groaned aloud. He would have to avoid alcohol in case (he dreaded the thought) he ended up like his father, take part in polite chitchat, and field stupid questions about his work. Added to that was the extra stress that entirely consisted of Ambassador Victor Nikiforov.

“I need a cup of tea.” Yuuri said to the room and placed his padd on the table.

Yuuri retrieved the steaming cup from the replicator and walked over to the sofa. Thinking back to the tour of the DSEC campus, he realised that the Ambassador confused him. He was polite and very charming. He seemed to radiate this charisma that made everyone around him want to fawn over him. Yuuri had been surprised at the reactions to the Ambassador from quite a few of his research staff and even more so at the surprisingly intelligent questions he had asked about Yuuri’s research. On the other hand the Ambassador had invaded Yuuri’s personal space far too much, as Yuuri imagined an alpha would, and there was that intense stare that he seemed to give Yuuri every time Yuuri turned to face him. Yuuri laughed to himself as he remembered when the Ambassador had seen a dog on their way out of the building and rushed over to greet it. Yakov had groaned, commenting “Not again.”

Despite Yuuri’s irrational desire to dislike the Ambassador for what he was, he was drawn to him, and this involuntary reaction irritated Yuuri enormously.

A chime from the door interrupted his introspection, he released the door lock and Phichit swept into the room. “You’re not dressed yet Yuuri? We’ve only got ten minutes to get to the Captain’s quarters. Come on!”

Yuuri leapt up from the sofa, the padd sliding off his lap onto the floor. “Shit! Give me five minutes, and I’ll be ready.”

Five minutes later, a red faced Yuuri was having his hair firmly gelled back by Phichit who had refused to let him out of the room with his hair all over the place. Yuuri heard Phichit muttering about needing to impress and being stupid refusing to tell anyone about his PhD. Yuuri could feel his emotions welling up, he didn’t deserve a good friend like Phichit, tears pricked at his eyes and as soon as Phichit had finished fiddling with his hair, grabbed him and hugged him. “What did I do to deserve a friend like you Phichit?”

Phichit patted him on the back, “Hey, who else would sit through 147 viewings of The King and the Skater?”

Yuuri laughed as they quickly left to make their way to the Captain’s quarters where the formal dinner would take place.

~

Yuuri stopped suddenly before they got to the door of Ciao Ciao’s quarters.

“Oof!” Phichit grunted as he walked into Yuuri’s back. “What’s up?” Phichit asked.

“I just…always hate these things,” Yuuri admitted.

Phichit walked around in front of Yuuri and smiled, “Yuuri you say this literally every single time we have one of these. They’re always the same and you’re always fine. Come on, we’re going to be late.” Yuuri sighed, he supposed Phichit did have a point.

They walked into the large room together. Most people were already there holding glasses and chatting quietly, the atmosphere felt relaxed and cheerful, most of the crew had served together before. Ambassador Nikiforov was in conversation with Ciao Ciao. He was dressed formally too, his outfit as white as the fleet’s formal uniform but with red scroll flourishes on the sleeves, gold trimmings and epaulets, a grey sash and black boots. Envoy Babicheva was talking to the ship’s Medical Officer Sara Crispino and the zoologist of the embassy team Kenjirou Minami, who Yuuri hadn’t met yet. As soon as Mila saw them arrive she excused herself from the conversation and came over to them, her read curls bouncing and her eyes gleaming with mischief. She looked stunning in a bright emerald dress uniform with a white scarf arranged around her hips.

“Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki and Phichit! It’s so nice to be able to talk properly for the first time. Please call me Mila, otherwise it’s _such_ a mouthful.” She smiled brightly at them; “I’m looking forward to hearing about your plans for our system to use transporter technology Lieutenant-Commander.” She reached out and put a hand on Yuuri’s arm, pulling it away when Yuuri stiffened slightly. Her smile didn’t falter and she continued, “May I call you Yuuri? Lieutenant-Commander is another mouthful.”

“O...Of course,” Yuuri said. He wondered if all Proximans were as bouncy and enthusiastic as Mila and the Ambassador. They both seemed to behave the same, which confused Yuuri’s preconceived notions of alpha and omega behaviour.

“I see you’re already on first name terms.” A familiar voice spoke over Yuuri’s shoulder causing him to jump and spin round.

“Ambassador Nikiforov!” Yuuri bowed and turned bright red. Ah shit, he was so embarrassed, why did he have to react like that? The Ambassador always managed to make him uncomfortable.

“Victor, we’ve got to be on first name terms. All this ambassador here and Envoy there is going to get really tiring by the end of the voyage.” Mila interrupted Yuuri’s temporary meltdown.

Victor’s smile grew into a heart shape and Yuuri found it hard to look away even though he could feel the discomfort crawling up his spine. Phichit coughed and Yuuri jerked his eyes away from the Ambassador’s face. Oh my god he had done it again. What was wrong with him?

Victor tipped his glass to Mila, “I totally agree Mila,” He turned to Yuuri and Phichit, “Please call me Victor, and may I call you Yuuri and Phichit?” Victor stepped back giving Yuuri room to breathe. They both nodded and Yuuri quickly glanced around the room trying to think of something to say as Victor and Mila smiled at them expectantly.

“So...er Victor, what did you think of Earth?” Phichit had obviously grabbed the first question that came into his head in order to make conversation.

“Earth is a beautiful planet. The ancient ruins from thousands of years ago were fascinating. That’s something we don’t have on Proxima.”

Mila spoke up, “you should have seen him, it was embarrassing.” She shook her head and then laughed. “Wow! 3000 years old!” She said in a pretty perfect imitation of Victor’s voice.

Victor laughed, “It _was_ fascinating! I look forward to hearing your views on Proxima when we arrive.” Yuuri found this more lighthearted version of the Ambassador puzzling and not what he was expecting at all.

“I’ve seen the pictures provided in the information I read through this morning.” Phichit replied. “It looks amazing. Do you have a lot of water sports with all those islands?”

They were interrupted when an enthusiastic voice exclaimed, “I’m so excited!” They all turned to see Kenjirou Minami almost vibrating between Yuuri and Mila. “I can’t wait to work with you Katsuki-san, I’ve read your thesis on longer range transportation and it’s so amazing.” Yuuri stared at him in disbelief and Minami turned to Victor. “There’s so much I want to know about Proxima. Like, what’s the biggest animal you’ve got? Is there an insect population? How do you scientists think evolution happened on the planet? Were there any major extinction events? I only know what the initial survey reports said from centuries ago. I can’t wait to get started!”

Victor and Mila looked harried, so Phichit interrupted Minami’s gushing to point out that they should sit down at the table where the food was laid out. Some of the junior ensigns had been assigned to be waiters just for this occasion and seating had been pre-arranged. Yuuri was sitting next to Mila, opposite the Chief Engineer Michele Crispino. The twin brother and sister had been assigned to the same ship for as long as Yuuri could remember. Yuuri had always been wary of Michele who seemed to have a problem with anyone new talking to Sara. It was a source of amusement on board as it was part of her job to speak to everyone on the ship to check on their welfare. Sara Crispino was on Yuuri’s other side and because Mila was occupied talking to Phichit about Proxima he was able to have a calm and sensible conversation with her. She had been following up on some research Yuuri had given her last time they were together on a mission, about using the same technology that the transporters use as a medical aid. Surgery without making any incision at all was becoming a real possibility. As their discussion came to an end, Sara smiled wistfully, “I would love to see Proxima, it’s a shame we won’t be able to stop. We’ll be beaming you down and moving on to the Virginis system for our next mission.”

Mila overheard this last statement and leaned around Yuuri to ask Sara about the medical differences between the two planets. “There’s so much information we can exchange! I wish you were part of the embassy too Sara.”

Michele just grunted from across the table and glared at Mila. Yakov spoke up, “Unfortunately Dr Straligny was meant to be the medical officer on the team, but was called away by a family emergency just before we were due to depart. She will be following in a few weeks and then it will be interesting to see what we can offer each other in the medical field.”

Conversation continued over the dessert and Yuuri was surprised to find that he was enjoying himself. He felt as if he was among friends instead of crewmembers. Ciao Ciao stood at the end of the meal and gave a toast to the guests, inviting them to explore the ship and make use of the facilities on board. Everyone was then free to mingle again, but Yuuri stayed in his seat, trying not to finish the glass of wine in his hand, emotionally drained by the last two days vaguely listening to Minami trying to grill Mila again about the flora and fauna of Proxima. Yuuri smiled to himself as he heard her patiently answering him and promising him resources once they landed on Proxima.

“Hello Yuuri,” The Ambassador sat down next to him and Yuuri, automatically, pushed his chair away slightly. Victor paused before he spoke again and leaned back in his chair. Deliberately making an effort to keep some distance between himself and Yuuri. Yuuri cringed inside at his obviousness. Somehow all his skill at diplomacy seemed to disappear when confronted by Ambassador Victor Nikiforov. Yuuri tried to pull himself together, to show at least some diplomatic skill.

“Did you enjoy the meal Ambassador?” He asked.

“I did, the food is nearly as good as planet side food. You seem to be getting on well with Mila, I’m glad to see that.” The Ambassador glanced over to where Mila was having a lively conversation with Sara. “And please call me Victor, it’s going to be a very long three weeks if you insist on calling me Ambassador all the time.” The Am–Victor smiled and cupped his chin with his hand as he leaned on the table.

“OK, thank you Victor.” Yuuri felt mortified. The more he tried not to react to the man’s presence, the worse reaction he had. Victor was being so nice about it. He was finally saved from his embarrassment when Phichit came over to join in the conversation.

~

Victor decided to leave the formal dinner as soon as it was polite, pleading fatigue from the week on Earth. Back in his quarters, he sat down in the comfortable chair with a glass of Antarean brandy. He propped his feet on the table nearby and thought back over the past two days.

On the tour round DSEC Victor found that once he got Yuuri talking about his pet topic he became less shy and nervous and more authoritative. He had let Yuuri talk about condensed matter physics and quantum effects, principles that were way over Victor’s head. He had explained that physics was not his area of expertise and that he didn’t understand much of what Yuuri was talking about. He had tried to ask intelligent questions that were more based on the use of transporters rather than the science behind them. Unlike Mila, who made it plain that she couldn’t care less about the transporter technology and was far more interested in improving Proxima’s hologram communication technology, much to Yuuri’s frustration and Phichit’s joy.

Victor thought about the way Yuuri could smell his natural scent. As far as Victor knew, none of the team from Earth were actual omegas or alphas, they were descendants of the ones that stayed behind. But a normal human wouldn’t have a sensitive enough nose to smell an alpha or omega. Victor nearly dropped the glass of brandy when he connected the dots in his brain and realised that he could smell Yuuri’s scent too. The fresh citrusy smell he had sensed in the Admiral’s office had been there this evening when he sat next to Yuuri. That was incredibly unusual, but after consideration Victor dismissed it. Yuuri must be a person who wore a perfume like so many of the earthlings; there was always a simple explanation for everything, no need to jump to conclusions.

This evening Victor had been very aware of how uncomfortable Yuuri was with his presence and tried his hardest to get Yuuri to relax, but for some reason the man had been reduced to a blushing, stuttering mess. Victor, normally, would assume that Yuuri was attracted to him, but every time he even attempted to make a move Yuuri would react badly. In the end it was a relief when Phichit sat down next to them and made conversation.

The way Yuuri reacted to Mila was completely different, he seemed to accept her over-exuberant nature even though she had shown no interest in his specialist field. Victor decided that all would become clear in time and asked the computer to play some of its vast store of Earth music, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes.

~

Over the next several days Victor tried to run into Yuuri around the ship, but the Lieutenant Commander proved to be strangely elusive. He finally complained to Mila that he couldn’t seem to find Yuuri anywhere.

“That’s strange, I have no problems.” She thought for a moment. “This time of day he’s usually in the recreation area with Phichit after Phichit’s shift finishes.” Victor huffed, it really did sound like Yuuri was avoiding him. Victor couldn’t understand it, but six days was long enough and he resolved to do something about it.

As he walked into the recreation area he saw Yuuri and Phichit playing chess. He wandered over and stood watching for a while, noticing that Yuuri’s game was calm and logical, but Phichit’s was full of unexpected moves. Although Yuuri’s game gradually became more and more erratic while Victor was there and he kept giving Victor sidelong looks.

“I apologise, I feel like I’m putting you off your game.” Victor eventually said.

Phichit grinned at him. “That’s great because I was losing and now,” he moved the queen down a level and along three squares, “checkmate!”

Yuuri sat back and folded his arms, huffing in annoyance. He glared at Phichit who just grinned irrepressibly, “another?”

“My mind’s not in the zone at the moment, maybe later.” Yuuri grumbled.

“Always such a sore loser,” Phichit sighed. “Never mind, I’ll beat you fair and square next time.”

“Maybe I can get you a drink to make up for it?” Victor offered. Yuuri looked up in surprise. “I feel that my presence was the cause of you losing. Or maybe I could challenge you to a game and let you have your revenge that way?”

“You play three-dimensional chess?”

“Of course. I have a small reputation on Proxima. May I?” Victor indicated towards Phichit and Yuuri nodded.

“This I have got to see! Let me get some drinks and I’ll come back and watch the match of the day!” Phichit took their drink orders and rushed away enthusiastically. Victor took Phichit’s seat on the opposite side of the table to Yuuri, while Yuuri reset the board.

“White or Black?” Yuuri asked.

Victor smiled at Yuuri’s slightly hostile tone. “I’m happy to let you choose.”

“I’ll take black then.”

Victor tried to relax as the first moves were made, but Yuuri was obviously very good and his intense concentration made Victor even more determined to win. Phichit returned with the drinks and stood quietly watching. The tension rose as pieces were exchanged, the match was fairly evenly balanced and Victor noticed that they had gathered a small crowd of onlookers. He made a determined effort to appear relaxed and sat back in his chair with his drink. Yuuri was too logical; maybe it was time to try a surprise? He made what appeared to be a slightly reckless move with his queen with a gambit in mind, but to his surprise Yuuri looked up and grinned at him before moving his bishop and declaring checkmate. Victor stared at the board and then at Yuuri who was sitting back with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Wow! You’re good. I’m impressed.”

“I suppose I’m not bad for an omega descendant.” Yuuri said. Phichit choked on his drink.

Victor raised his eyebrows and shot a glance at Phichit. He was surprised and shocked by Yuuri’s tone. “What does that have to do with anything?” Victor asked and sat forward. Yuuri frowned and looked down. “What have I done, Yuuri, to give you the impression that I would have a bad opinion of someone descended from an omega?” Victor allowed some of the offense he felt to colour his tone when he asked Yuuri that question.

The reason for Yuuri’s hostile attitude from the previous few days was becoming clear. It was obviously something to do with Victor being an alpha. Victor frowned; he clearly had some work to do overcoming Yuuri’s prejudices. Victor decided that the best approach would be to tackle the problem head on.

“Yuuri, you seem to have some strange idea of what alphas and omegas are like. Can I get you another drink and tell you about life on Proxima?”

~

Yuuri felt his cheeks burning at his slip in etiquette and found it difficult to look back up. He knew he wasn’t worthy of this promotion and his position in the embassy. He had barely heard Victor’s offer to talk over the noise in his head. Finally gripping the arms of the chair and forcing himself to look up he said, “I apologise, my remark was uncalled for. You did nothing to offend me.” Victor didn’t seem upset, which surprised Yuuri; he just seemed to be surprised and concerned. “I _would_ like to find out more about Proxima. I just…” Yuuri bit his lip and trailed off. How could he tell the Ambassador that the perfume he could smell whenever Victor was around was incredibly distracting? There was no way he was going to tell Victor that he seemed to be attracted to him even though part of him hated Victor for being an alpha. “Please, I would like a drink.” _Please!_ Yuuri died again inside and wished that his brain worked when trying to talk to Victor. He had been avoiding the alpha all week and he realised that he couldn’t put this conversation off any longer. He could do this. He could.

He couldn’t. They had moved to sitting opposite each other at a table by a window with a view out into the blackness of space, each with a drink. Yuuri’s head was spinning. He was so confused. Victor’s extrovert behaviour made him seem like a typical alpha but every time Yuuri reacted badly he stopped and stepped back. Even now he was sitting, waiting patiently for Yuuri to make the first move. _He meets me where I am_ , and with that thought Yuuri could feel some of the confusion ebb away.

“When I was young my parents told me about my grandmother,” Yuuri began hesitantly. “She was the only full omega born in the family for generations. Our ancestor had chosen to stay when the Dynamics left the Earth and as far as we knew only normal children had been born ever since, so when my Grandmother presented it was a shock. My…my mother told my sister and me because it was a possibility that we would also be born as a dynamic, even though it’s really rare on Earth these days. My Grandmother had a horrible time. No one understood what she was going through until a medical researcher at the university heard about her and came to help. I don’t remember much about my grandmother, but the talk my parents gave me when I was about ten really frightened me.” Yuuri raised his eyes to look at Victor, who was looking at him thoughtfully.

Yuuri took a deep breath. This next bit wasn’t going to be easy to say, “A lot of the history we have on Earth is that omegas are meek and subservient and alphas are aggressive and both have uncontrollable urges that make them less than normal people.” Yuuri paused at Victor’s expression. It was hurt and sad.

“Is that what you think of me Yuuri?”

“No!” Yuuri rushed to reassure Victor, and then considered how he had behaved over the last week. “I’m sorry. I probably have treated you as if you’re going to live up to the stereotype we have of an alpha. I apologise, I should know better and I should have asked for more information before rushing to a conclusion.

“It’s becoming much less common now to meet people like Admiral Bennett who are prejudiced against people with alpha or omega heritage. There are anti-discrimination laws in place and I never encountered any problems.” Yuuri paused, and then decided to be completely honest; “I became aware of prejudice when I joined DSEC for training when I was 16 because some of my superiors thought my heritage counted against me. Most of that probably comes from one person.” Yuuri bit his lip.

“Admiral Bennett.” Victor said quietly.

“Probably. So I’m a bit defensive and I’m sorry.” Yuuri sighed, but then leaned forward, trying to radiate earnestness. “Can we please start again?”

Victor looked at Yuuri and folded his hands in his lap, “Of Course Yuuri.” Victor took a deep breath. “So, where to start?” He raised one finger to his lips in thought. “How much do you actually know about the Dynamics?”

Yuuri thought hard, “Not much I guess. I know that grandmother had regular times when she would go to a special retreat in another part of Japan to have her heats. My parents explained that…that she was feeling, er–” Yuuri ducked his head in embarrassment at having to discuss such a topic in a public place.

“It’s OK,” Victor said, “I think I understand. We can discuss things like that another time, somewhere more private if you like.”

Yuuri nodded in relief and smiled, “Yes, that would be better. So, er, tell me about how things are run on Proxima.”

Victor laughed, “Running through a whole system of government in one evening is not going to be possible, but we can maybe talk about equality?” He looked at Yuuri and Yuuri was mesmerised again by the intense blue of Victor’s eyes.

Yuuri found it hard to stumble out a short, dazed, “Yes.”

Victor looked slightly puzzled, but continued, “One fundamental principle that governs Proxima is equality. All people are equal no exceptions. It’s been like that since the day we left Earth. Our dynamic does not influence everyday life, so people disregard it. The few betas, or unscented people who are born are treated exactly the same as anyone else. Heats and ruts are treated like a normal part of life and no one feels it’s a problem or something to be ashamed about. Whatever you’ve been told about the Dynamics was the result of misinformation and deliberate deception on the part of the government all those centuries ago trying to keep the population under control.” Victor’s expression hardened and he looked out of the window, shifting slightly in his seat.

“Alphas and omegas are completely equal in every respect. Once we were away from Earth and had to survive, we found that a person’s dynamic does not affect their behaviour or abilities and were able to throw away the notions that had been imposed on us.” Victor stopped when Yuuri sat forward in his chair.

“That’s completely different from the history we were taught! Things are so different now, but we’re still taught so much inaccurate stuff about how the dynamics used to be.” Yuuri felt appalled at the distortion and inaccurate history he had been taught. His mind went back to the tour of DSEC on Earth. “Can I ask about why you said it wasn’t common to comment on someone’s scent?” Yuuri said.

Victor smiled thoughtfully. “How much do you know about scents as it relates to the dynamics, Yuuri?”

“Absolutely nothing, no one has ever mentioned it.”

Victor’s eyebrows rose in disbelief and he pressed his fingertips together in front of his face. “Well, every alpha and omega has a distinctive scent which gets stronger nearer a heat or a rut. It’s not a scent that can usually be detected by a beta, which is why I was surprised when you asked me. I wasn’t actually wearing any cologne, there’s no real need for things like that on Proxima although some people wear fake scents to alter their own if they feel like it. Do you think that your heritage could explain it?”

“I’m not sure,” Yuuri was embarrassed to ask, but realised he hadn’t smelt anything, anytime he was near Mila. “Er, would Mila have a scent too?”

Victor looked at Yuuri oddly, “You don’t smell Mila’s scent? That’s strange. We should investigate this when we’re back on Proxima.”

“OK. It’s too busy here, but some time would you be able to tell me about heats and ruts. I don’t want to embarrass myself any further on Proxima.”

“Yes, of course, Yuuri. The aim of the mission is to find out information about each other is it not?”

“Thank you Victor,” Yuuri looked shyly at Victor. “I should go to bed, I’m on an early bridge shift in the morning. I have to admit that I’ve been avoiding you for the last week and I’m sorry, I should have tackled my problems head on rather than trying to hide from them.” He ducked his head and could feel the blush on his cheeks.

Victor sat forward for the first time that evening and tentatively put his hands on the table, “Yuuri, I’m glad you felt able to speak with me about your problem. We can become better friends now, yes?”

Yuuri nodded, “Yes, that would be nice.”

~

Yuuri stayed up late that night thinking about the encounter with Victor. Over the course of the next week Yuuri made sure he was available for Victor to find and they spoke about many things. Sometimes Phichit, Mila and Sara would join them to talk about the differences between Earth and Proxima, a lot of the time though the conversation would devolve into just discussing the latest holosuite program that was all the rage.

Sometime in that week Yuuri realised that he had started to think of Victor and Mila as friends rather than important people he needed to be wary of. He still found himself bemused by Victor and even found himself comforted by the scent Victor gave off. He had been amazed to find out that the Dynamics gave off an individual scent that only other Dynamics could smell, which was why Victor was so puzzled when Yuuri commented on it on their first meeting. Yuuri had always had an extraordinarily sensitive sense of smell though and didn’t think it was really that important.  

It was a week later when Yuuri ran into Victor just leaving a holosuite with Mila in a Velocity outfit. Yuuri gulped tried not to stare at Victor’s body in the skin tight outfit.. Each muscle clearly defined and–

“Like what you see?” Victor was smirking having caught Yuuri staring at his body.

Yuuri was dying. How did he manage to be so clumsy all the time around the ambassador. He was meant to have high diplomacy skills, he was meant to be intelligent, he was on this mission because of both. Yuuri forced himself to look up at Victor’s face, realised that he was still staring, and that his cheeks were burning.

“I...oh my god! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to...I just...was taken by surprise! I didn’t know you played Velocity.”

Victor smiled widely and laughed. “Phichit showed us round the ship on the second day and Mila and I have been playing since then. It’s great fun. Do you play?”

“I...yes. I do.” Yuuri nodded along with his words. Jeering at himself inside the whole time and wanting to sink into the floor.

“Then we should definitely have a game. Maybe this time I’ll be able to beat you?”

“I’d like that a lot. The game, I mean, not being beaten,” Yuuri grinned.

“I’ve promised Captain Celestino a briefing tomorrow but I can make the next day, at this time?” Victor suggested and then made to walk away.

“Wait!” Yuuri reached out a hand, “I still want to talk to you about,” Yuuri lowered his voice, “the specifics of heats and ruts, can I...can we meet for dinner. What I mean to say is, would you like to have dinner with me some time?” Yuuri mentally face palmed himself, _nice, smooth, very smooth_.”

Victor’s mouth had opened in shock, but gradually turned into a smirk. He walked up closer to Yuuri and with a teasing smile said, “Let’s have our match and arrange dinner after that, I look forward to seeing you in a Velocity outfit Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki.” Laughing when Yuuri turned even redder and walked off down the corridor humming.

~

Yuuri made sure that he was on time for the game two days later and leaned against the wall outside the holosuite waiting for Victor to turn up. He had played Velocity in holosuites since he was a cadet and he didn’t think that Victor realised that he was playing the DSEC two time cadet champion. There was something about Victor that engaged Yuuri’s competitive nature.

A low whistle interrupted Yuuri’s thoughts and he jerked his eyes open. Colouring when he saw Victor eyeing him up and down, obviously in revenge for the other day. Victor smiled at Yuuri and raised his eyebrows.

“Ready?”

“Absolutely.”

Yuuri programmed the game and they entered the room, picking up the holo-safe phasers as they entered.

“You know the rules?” Yuuri asked, and Victor nodded and Yuuri started the countdown.

The disc appeared in between them and Yuuri instantly fired on it sending it in Victor’s direction. Victor rolled away from the disc and fired sending it back to Yuuri. Yuuri dodged, fired at the disc to send it careening into the wall where it ricocheted back and disappeared just as it made contact with Victor’s side. The dispassionate voice of the computer gave the score as _Katsuki one point_. Yuuri grinned at Victor and pushed his hair back from his forehead. Victor grinned back his eyes alight with zeal.

“I’m going to kick your ass Nikiforov.” Yuuri bit his lip in surprise at his willingness to sass Victor. Where did that come from?

“Phichit warned me you were competitive. Now I believe him.” Victor’s grin was wide and happy, “although I think you’ll find my ass harder to hit than the disc.”

Yuuri’s reply was halted when the disc rematerialized between them. They both fired, but Victor was the first to hit it this time and Yuuri barely managed to dive underneath, spinning round to fire at the disc before it was able to dive onto him on the floor. He leapt to his feet just as Victor hit the disc again sending it straight for Yuuri’s backside. _Nikiforov one point_.

“What were you saying about my ass, Yuuri?”

“You’re good!” Yuuri was surprised, “have you played Velocity before this voyage?” He fired as soon as the disc appeared and sent it straight to Victor. _Katsuki one point._

“We have a very similar game on Proxima, I think they both originated in the old game of squash.” Victor said. Yuuri narrowed his eyes, Victor must have played it a lot then because he was good. The momentarily thinking lapse allowed Victor another point.

They traded points fairly evenly and both of them were beginning to sweat as the game reached the final two points. Yuuri swiped his hair back off his forehead again and laughed. He hadn’t enjoyed himself so much in months. Hardly anyone back at DSEC Command was good enough to beat him, and yet Victor was so close. Victor gave him a funny look and lost a point through being distracted. One more point and Yuuri would have beaten him. Unfortunately the pressure got to Yuuri slightly and he didn’t react fast enough to Victor’s next volley with the disc, which dematerialised by his shoulder. Yuuri still had one point in the clear and he was determined to make it. He noticed that Victor was struggling to catch his breath.

“Computer pause game. Do you need a break?” Yuuri asked.

“No, absolutely not. Your stamina is incredible! But I’m going to do my best to win.”

“Computer resume game.” The disc appeared again.

Victor reacted immediately sending it sideways in an unexpected move, Yuuri spun and fired sending it shooting upwards so it rebounded off the ceiling, coming down at Victor from above. Victor leaned back to shoot and stumbled, falling onto the floor as the disc dissolved on his chest. _Game Katsuki_.

Yuuri rushed over to check on Victor. “Are you OK?”

“Wow Yuuri. You are amazing.” Victor was still breathing heavily. His mouth formed his wonderful heart-shaped smile and Yuuri thought his heart had stopped, he leaned over Victor and put his hand to Victor’s cheek. Victor brought his own hand up to cover Yuuri’s and his smile softened.

“Have dinner with me.” Victor said.

Yuuri smiled, “We’ve already agreed to have a meal Victor. We just have to set a time.”

Victor closed his eyes for a few seconds, “I don’t just mean a meal to discuss the intricacies of heats and ruts Yuuri. I mean a meal where you and I talk about us. A date.”

Yuuri sat back in shock, “A date? I...Yes,” he nodded and swallowed, “that would be good. I mean,” he smiled and took a deep breath, “I would love to go out on a date with you Victor.” At that Victor’s eyes sparkled and he leaned forward and hugged Yuuri tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be up on 1st August, I’m sorry for the long wait, but I’m out of the country for two weeks and won’t be able to post anything.
> 
> I will endeavour to answer comments because I can't imagine being off ao3 for two weeks ;)
> 
> Please give oxytreza's art some love [here](http://oxytrezart.tumblr.com/post/175537347317/in-regards-to-dynamics-read-here-200-years-ago)


	4. Yuuri's worst fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri makes some interesting discoveries and one very unwelcome one.
> 
> I want to thank everyone for all the kudos and wonderful comments I've received on this story, I believe I'm up to date with replying to comments but let me know if I haven't, because it's the least you deserve, you wonderful people.

Phichit accosted Yuuri immediately his next shift finished. Yuuri never managed to work out how he got his information so quickly, but supposed that his friendship with Mila was a big factor this time.

“So. You’ve got a dinner date with Victor?” Phichit had a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

“Phichit!” Yuuri was surprised Phichit had waited this long to grill him about the date with Victor and hadn’t interrupted him on his bridge shift. “It’s no big deal. We had a good time playing Velocity and he invited me to dinner.”

“Mila also told me you beat Victor yesterday! She was amazed. She was also laughing at the blows you’ve dealt to Victor’s ego, but that’s not relevant.” Phichit was almost vibrating with energy.

“Victor did really well considering he hadn’t played that much.” Yuuri paused when Phichit’s face contorted as if he was trying not to scream. “What?”

“He didn’t tell you?” Phichit almost squeaked.

“He didn’t tell me what?” Yuuri frowned at Phichit.

Phichit put his arm around Yuuri’s shoulders. “Yuuri, Yuuri. I suggest you ask Victor about his previous experience in their game that is surprisingly similar to Velocity.”

Yuuri ducked out from under Phichit’s arm, “or you could tell me now!”

“Nope, you can ask him yourself, on your date.” Phichit grinned and dived away from Yuuri’s grab, waving at him as he scampered off down the corridor laughing, leaving Yuuri with his mouth hanging open.

~

Two evenings later, Yuuri stood by the door of Victor’s quarters fidgeting with the hem of his jacket. Phichit had forced him into the only other smart outfit he had brought on the trip, a blue figure hugging suit, paired with a vest that covered his neck and had refused to answer any further questions to Yuuri's great frustration. Yuuri complained at the time that he would be in uniform for most of the journey and on Proxima, so what did he need any more than one smart outfit for? Phichit rolled his eyes in despair.

Yuuri swallowed and after running his hands through his hair, asked the computer to announce him. The door opened immediately.  Victor beamed at Yuuri from where he was lighting candles on the table. Victor quarters were exactly the same as Yuuri’s just a little larger being the official guest suite. A cold starter had already been laid out and when Yuuri walked forward, Victor handed him a glass of wine.

“Thank you for coming Yuuri.” Victor raised his glass, “congratulations on your victories and here’s to future competitions between us!”

Yuuri raised his glass too and drank a sip. The wine had a different, smooth and spicy taste from most of the earth wines Yuuri had tried. Victor smiled when he saw Yuuri’s face, “it’s a wine from Proxima, Mila and I brought gifts with us and there were a couple left over, it seems a shame not to use them.”

“It’s really nice.” Yuuri commented, taking another sip. He walked over to the holograph of a dog on a beach on one of the shelves. “Is this your dog?”

Victor smiled, “Yes, she’s my Makkachin. Do you like dogs?”

Yuuri had to blink a couple of times, “Yes, I...I have a dog who’s with my parents at the moment. His name is Vicchan.”

“You’re going to miss him.” Victor’s voice dropped.

“It’s OK. I only seen him on holocalls for five years now.” Yuuri smiled back at Victor weakly. “Hopefully when Phichit gets some better coms set up, I’ll be able to talk to my family from Proxima.”

“You must miss him dreadfully. I struggled to be apart from my Makka for just the seven weeks of this trip. I’ll look forward to seeing your family.” Victor turned back to the table for a moment. “Here, have a taste of this flying crab.” Victor said, passing Yuuri a spoon with pink meat on it. “I used the replicator to program in some delicacies from home that I thought you might like to taste. I think I managed to do it justice, even though these are completely different to the ones I’m used to.”

Yuuri raised an eyebrow. “Flying crab? Sounds like some sort of nightmare creature. I used to be terrified of crabs on the beach when I was growing up. Imagining them being able to fly is making me wish I’d stayed at home.” Yuuri finished with a smile and took the spoon.

Victor laughed, “They’re not that big and only jump out of trees.”

Yuuri coughed, nearly spat out the food, swallowed and laughed. “You’re joking. I’m going home!” Victor leaned closer and this time Yuuri didn’t back away and found himself comforted by Victor’s scent wafting around him.

“I’m perfectly serious Yuuri. Surely it would take far more than a little flying crab to scare you away.” Victor raised an eyebrow.

Yuuri nodded and turned back to the table, not really ready to go any further than just being with Victor yet, “It would, and that crab was delicious. So what other creatures are there native to Proxima that I should be worrying about?”

“Let’s sit and enjoy the food, and I can tell you about the Megasaur that dominates the oceans and eats whole ships in one bite.” Victor looked at Yuuri seriously and then winked.

Yuuri laughed, “Now I know you’re joking.”

Victor laughed and gestured to a seat at the table. They both sat and Victor entertained Yuuri enormously with tales from Proxima. Stories about the food they were eating, skiing and ice skating on the islands in the arctic zone, and the vast range of watersports that were the main type of sport. Yuuri relaxed gradually in victor’s pleasant company. At the end of the meal Yuuri realised that at some point over the last week he had started to think of Victor as just Victor, not the untouchable, dominating alpha Victor from Proxima. Yuuri could now also acknowledge that, yes, Victor was handsome, very handsome and he was attracted to him.

“–ri?” Victor was saying as he waved a fork in front of Yuuri’s face.

“Oh, sorry! I was lost in thought.” Yuuri coloured slightly, “What were you saying?”

“The other day you wanted to know more details about heat and ruts. Is that still a question you have?” Victor asked softly.

The question took Yuuri by surprise, “I am curious, but it’s just personal because of my Grandmother.” Yuuri smiled and his eyes slid away from Victor’s, “I’m having a really nice evening and I don’t want to spoil it by talking about serious topics.” He looked back up at Victor still smiling.

“It’s no problem, another time maybe,” Victor replied. He sat forward resting his chin on his hands. “So what would you say to one last Velocity match before we arrive in three days time?”

“I’d love to,” Yuuri paused to take a sip of wine,  “So, Phichit told me that Mila told him, that I should ask you about your previous experience playing the game you said was similar to Velocity.”

Victor rubbed the back of his neck and had the grace to look ashamed. “Ah, yes, Rýchlosť. I have found people are a bit intimidated by me and so I tend not to say anything.”

“Intimidated?” Yuuri raised an eyebrow curiously.

“I may have won a few tournaments back on Proxima.” Victor held out his hands, “when I was younger!”

Yuuri placed his wine glass back on the table and crossed his arms. “How few ‘ _ a few’ _ ?” He asked sarcastically.

“I was World Champion on Proxima for five years before I went into politics.”

“You what?” Yuuri glared at Victor. He was furious. He felt betrayed, Victor had obviously been toying with him, what had he hoped to achieve?

Yuuri pushed his chair back, stood and walked over to the window, looking at the stars outside. “I feel...I don’t exactly know how I feel at the moment.” He stated, hugging himself.

He felt and could smell Victor standing behind him, he wasn’t sure how he could tell, but Victor’s scent had changed; the mint was stronger. Yuuri closed his eyes and tried not to breathe as deeply as his body wanted him to.

Yuuri turned quickly and found himself staring at Victor’s chin, he looked up narrowing his eyes, and poked at Victor’s chest with his forefinger. “You let me win! You let me win at Chess and you let me win at Velocity!” Yuuri poked him, emphasising each sentence, “Just pandering to the omega descendant from earth!” Victor raised his hand, but Yuuri batted it away.

“Yuuri, I–” Victor tried to interject, but Yuuri was too angry. Tears were leaking from his eyes and he brushed them away impatiently. How embarrassing, why did he have to always cry when he was angry.

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry!” Yuuri yelled. Victor grabbed Yuuri’s hand and held it away from his chest.

Victor eyes were wide and he shook his head, “that’s not what I was trying to say.”

Yuuri realised that Victor had been slowly moving backwards under Yuuri’s angry onslaught and his back was against the wall, Yuuri retreated a step to give Victor space. “What were you trying to say then?”

“I was trying to tell you that I didn’t let you win.”

Yuuri drew in a sharp breath, “Not possible! There is no way on  _ any _ planet that I beat a 5 times world champion.”

“Please let me finish. I haven’t competed professionally for over a year, and when I went into politics I stopped playing altogether. I hope you realise from our conversations that rýchlosť is not the most important sport on Proxima, in fact the field of competitors is very small. When did you complete last?”

“A month ago.”

“And I bet you’ve been practicing since then.” Yuuri nodded, “See, it’s not out of the realms of possibility that you beat me and I would never  _ let _ anyone win, that would be insulting them.” Victor grinned, “In fact, that was the best game I’ve had in a long time, the first time I’ve felt challenged and had to work hard for every point.”

“Really?”

“Yes!” Victor surged forward taking both of Yuuri’s hands, “I can’t wait to play you again! You’ve beaten me in Chess and Velocity, I can’t wait to see what other things you can beat me in.”

Yuuri turned bright red at that statement and coughed. Victor laughed, released Yuuri’s hands and said, “That came out wrong didn’t it.” He pushed his fringe back from his forehead and Yuuri’s breath caught.

“I never wanted you to be annoyed with me, but so many people have put me on a pedestal, and refused to treat me as a normal person, that I wondered if you would refuse to play if you knew.”

Yuuri bit his lip and looked down, he felt he was guilty of the same thing. He nodded, “I probably would have. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m not the most confident person around.”

“That’s all part of your charm Yuuri.” Victor said softly. Yuuri looked up at Victor in disbelief. “I have been trying to tell you for days that I am incredibly attracted to you.” Victor dropped his voice, “I have been wanting, very much, to ask you if I could kiss you.”

“You were, are, I mean you do?” Yuuri cursed his own brain and closed his eyes. He placed his hand on Victor’s chest. He could feel Victor’s heart beat pounding. He opened his eyes and looked intently at Victor’s face, not quite believing what he was hearing. Victor was looking down at him with a soft smile and Yuuri found himself drawn in by his intense blue eyes and the fondness in his gaze.

“May...may I kiss you?” Yuuri asked, his heart in his mouth.

Victor swallowed and nodded, his arms wrapping around Yuuri and bringing him closer. Yuuri could feel the press of his body against Victor’s and slowly pushed his hand up to cup Victor’s neck tipping his head further to fit their lips together. A flood of emotions rushed through Yuuri, desire being the foremost and he pushed his tongue between Victor’s lips which opened eagerly to deepen the kiss. Yuuri could smell Victor’s scent so strongly and it was making him desperate to get as close as possible. Yuuri’s other hand slipped down from Victor’s waist to grip his arse tightly and Victor moaned into the kiss. Yuuri broke away breathing deeply.

“We should stop.” Yuuri gasped.

“Do you  _ want _ to stop?” Victor stroked Yuuri’s cheek with his hand and then shifted away from the wall, bending so that his forehead was nearly touching Yuuri’s. He cupped Yuuri’s chin and stroked along Yuuri’s lower lip with his thumb. “Nothing we’re doing is inappropriate, we’re two adults who are attracted to one another. Let’s just see where this goes.”

Yuuri found it hard to string words together, his brain was not currently residing in his head, but further south. “Yes,” He said vaguely.

Victor smirked and then chuckled, “Yuurrri,” he sang. Yuuri gradually came out of the daze he was in and tried to lurch backwards, but Victor’s hand around his waist stopped him. Victor lifted his hand away so that Yuuri could move.

“I’m sorry. What did you say? I wasn’t thinking clearly.” He reviewed the last few minutes in shock and brought his face to his hands. “I’m so embarrassed,” He moaned.

“Why?” Victor asked, gently pulling Yuuri’s hands away from his face and guiding him to the sofa. Yuuri sat down on the edge and Victor laid back against the corner.

“Firstly I hid from you, secondly I let my prejudices run away with me and accused you of behaviour you never had in the first place, and now I’ve accused you of cheating at a game and then pushed myself on you.” Yuuri crossed his arms on his knees and let his head fall onto them.

“OK, well, maybe it’s not as bad as you think.” Victor began and when Yuuri turned his head to look sideways at him, Victor smiled and raised one finger. “Firstly, you avoiding me was totally understandable considering the treatment you’d been receiving from the Admiral for years and your expectations.”

Victor raised another finger. “Secondly, while I was a little hurt, you quickly apologised and sought out more information from me to help you understand, the sign of someone with an open mind. Thirdly, thirdly...what was the third thing again?” Victor put his fingers to his lips in thought. “Oh yes, your reasons were understandable and you did not  _ push _ yourself on me, I wanted you just as badly.” Victor held out his hands to Yuuri, “please, I would very much like to kiss you again.”

Yuuri eyes went wide and his mouth dried in sudden desire. He felt as if a string was pulling him towards Victor. He leaned forwards, reaching out and Victor pulled him down gently. He slotted into Victor’s body perfectly, running his fingers through Victor’s hair before bringing his mouth down onto the taller man’s soft lips. He felt Victor’s hands on his hips and then under his shirt. His long elegant fingers gently slid up and down Yuuri’s sides and Yuuri broke the kiss with a gasp suddenly aware of how aroused he was getting. He slowly shifted his body against Victor’s as desire overtook him. He kissed his way down Victor’s jaw and onto his neck. The scent coming from the other man was intense here and Yuuri was being driven insane. He had to pull away and look up when he felt the urge to bite the alpha’s neck and mark him. Victor’s eyes were blown wide with desire and Yuuri kissed him on the lips again, allowing himself to enjoy the sensation.

Yuuri finally pulled away, “I think I’d better go. I never...I never thought,” his brain had short-circuited and he pushed himself away from Victor completely, who looked as wrecked as Yuuri felt.

“Victor?” Yuuri asked quietly, looking down into the silver haired man’s blue eyes. Victor was gazing up at him with a dazed expression.

“Yes, my Yuuri,” Yuuri’s heart thumped at the endearment.

“I should go, we need to get to know each other better. We’ve only been on good terms just over a week, and if I stay, we both may regret it.” Yuuri felt tears prick behind his eyes. How was he feeling this emotional? How could he be feeling as if he never wanted to be parted from Victor again?

“I understand, Yuuri.” Victor said. He was obviously trying to pull himself together and sat up, running his fingers through his hair. “Yes, that would probably be for the best.” Victor looked straight at Yuuri and reached out a hand, “Thank you, I have had an amazing evening. I’m looking forward to our next date.”

Yuuri took Victor’s hand and stood up. He caressed Victor’s knuckles and thought about dropping a kiss on his hand, but he felt awkward and fought back a sudden bout of shyness. “I’ve also had a wonderful evening. Thank you for being so patient with me. Good night Victor.”

“Good night, my Yuuri.” Victor said quietly, raising Yuuri’s hand to his lips and brushing them gently over his knuckles.

Yuuri walked back to his quarters in a daze, dropped onto his bed fully dressed and despite his spinning thoughts fell into the deepest sleep he had had for a long time.

~

Two days out from Proxima Yakov Feltsman called a meeting. He said that he knew everyone on the embassy had been mixing well on the voyage and wanted to get them together officially to talk through what they had learned on the voyage.

Yuuri had been feeling off ever since his dinner date with Victor. At first he blamed the food for his slightly elevated temperature, maybe there was something wrong with the replicator, but that wouldn’t explain why he had fallen into bed and slept like the dead for 9 hours both nights since then. Victor had also been acting weirdly, one moment rushing up to Yuuri to hug him and the next backing away as if he smelled something bad.

The morning of Yakov’s meeting Yuuri nearly reported to sickbay, but decided to go after the meeting. He couldn’t afford to be ill now, but only five minutes after putting on his uniform he was sweating slightly, even though he had turned the temperature in his quarters down several degrees. When he left his quarters to head to Ciao Ciao’s ready room he felt like he was moving through soup, the air thick and heavy, any noises echoing and reverberating in his head. He just had to get this meeting over with and then he would see Sara.

Yuuri slid into the ready room as unobtrusively as possible and sat down between Phichit and Minami. He tried his hardest to listen to Yakov summing up the information he had been provided by Victor about Proxima, but failed miserably. He ran his finger around his collar in an attempt to get air to his overheating chest.  _ Why did Ciao Ciao have the temperature programmed so high in here? _ He glanced up to see Victor staring at him, his nostrils flaring. As Yuuri looked away back to Ciao Ciao he saw that Victor’s hands were gripping the arms of his chair hard enough to make his knuckles white.

“Yuuri? Are you feeling alright?” Ciao Ciao asked, frowning at Yuuri.

“I...I feel quite ill. I’m not sure. I’m hot.” Yuuri felt sweat prickling at his back and nervously swallowed at the attention Ciao Ciao’s comment had focused on him.

“Well, you shouldn’t push yourself if you feel ill. Go back to your quarters, but report to sick-bay on the way there. Ask Dr. Crispino to give you a complete check-over, if it’s something contagious then I need to know.”

“Should I go with Yuuri, Sir?” Minami offered enthusiastically, “I may be able to help Yuuri and Sara!”

Victor cleared his throat, “That probably won’t be necessary. I believe I may know what’s wrong.” Minami deflated.

Ciao Ciao looked at the disappointed young man. “Minami, although your research into the genetics of dynamics and cell morphology will be of great interest to everyone and valuable in the future, I think a medical doctor should see to Yuuri at the moment.” He then turned to Victor and narrowed his eyes. “I would like a full report later, if you don’t mind ambassador, into why you feel your presence is necessary, but let’s get Yuuri some help first.”

“Not a problem.” Victor stood and inclined his head to Ciao Ciao.

Victor turned to Yuuri. “May I accompany you to sick-bay Yuuri?” Victor’s voice had a strange tightness to it, but Yuuri couldn’t analyse anything at the moment, he ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

Yuuri barely registered as Victor walked over and touched his hand lightly. “Yuuri? Shall I accompany you to sick-bay?” He repeated.

Yuuri nodded and gulped, he couldn’t seem to form words as the tall alpha stood over him. What on earth was wrong with him? He gripped the arms of his chair and pushed himself up, gritting his teeth in determination. Victor backed away as Yuuri stood and gestured for Yuuri to go in front. Yuuri couldn’t think about Victor’s attitude to him, as soon as Yuuri had stood up he became dizzy and had to close his eyes. He managed to get himself under control. He glanced at Phichit who was looking extremely concerned and then Mila who had a thoughtful look on her face, and left the room with Victor. They slowly and silently made their way to sick-bay, where they found Dr. Sara Crispino who had been informed of their arrival by Celestino.

“Yuuri! Come over to the table, Celestino said you weren’t well. Feverish?” She gestured to the biobed for Yuuri to come and sit down. Yuuri found himself strangely reluctant to leave Victor’s side and needed a push from Victor. He sat and as Sara retrieved her medical scanner Victor spoke.

“Dr. Crispino.”

“Yes, Ambassador Nikiforov?”

“Please call me Victor.” Victor cleared his throat again, it sounded like he was having trouble speaking. “I believe I know what Yuuri’s problem is. Your medical scanners may not be equipped to register the problem.”

“Oh?” Sara said absently as she looked at the readings on the scanner and the biobed’s monitor.

“I also think it would be a good idea to speak to Dr Christophe Giacometti on Proxima, if you could set up an urgent call.” Victor looked down at his hands. “I believe that Yuuri is undergoing pre-heat and will go into heat in 2 days.”

Both Yuuri and Sara immediately focussed on Victor. Yuuri’s jaw dropped and he wanted to sink through the floor.  _ A heat? But that would mean he was going to lose himself. He would become just some sex hungry omega _ . Yuuri gasped as his behaviour in Victor’s quarters the other evening came back to him. _ Was that the start of it? _ Unaware of Yuuri’s increasing turmoil, Sara patted him on the knee and frowned at Victor.

“And what would make you think that Victor?”

Sara’s voice was mild, but Victor caught the underlying hostility in her tone and straightened.

“Please request the call first.”

“Computer, urgent request to speak to Dr Christophe Giacometti on Proxima. Medical emergency priority 1.” Sara stated and waited for the computer’s response before looking back at Victor.

“Thank you. If you will allow me to approach, Yuuri?” Victor directed this question to Yuuri, who was too thrown by the seriousness in Victor’s tone to do more than nod.

Sara nodded and stepped back slightly. Yuuri wasn’t sure how to react. Part of him wanted to run away, part of him wondered if this could be true and part of him wanted to throw himself at Victor’s feet and beg. He wasn’t sure what for, he wasn’t even sure if he was hallucinating this whole past hour. He realised that Victor was waiting for him to vocally give his permission to come closer.

“O..Ok.”

Victor moved right next to him and Yuuri couldn’t believe it but he felt himself getting even hotter, sweat was definitely running down his back now and he was sure his face was bright red.

“Dr Crispino, if you notice these patches on Yuuri’s neck,” Victor looked at Yuuri seriously, “Can I touch you Yuuri?”

“Yes,” Yuuri whispered too caught up in his whirling emotions to articulate anything more.

Victor touched beside the hottest part of Yuuri’s neck and Yuuri had to bite his lip to restrain the moan that was trying to escape. “These are scent glands, and here,” Victor picked up Yuuri’s wrist with his other hand, the first lingering on Yuuri’s neck in what was almost a caress, “are the same patches on his wrists. If you’d like to compare.” Victor held out his own wrists to Sara who took one of Victor’s hands and compared it to Yuuri’s. Yuuri looked at his wrists in bemusement, the discoloured area of rough skin hadn’t been there yesterday. Sara hummed and pursed her lips as she looked at Yuuri.

“Victor, can you tell me any other symptoms Yuuri has that you’d like to explain?” Sara asked.

“There is also,” Victor coughed, “the matter of Yuuri’s scent.”

Yuuri’s blush renewed itself.

“Ever since I first met Yuuri I noticed his scent.” Victor smiled at Yuuri with a slight blush on his cheeks. “A very attractive, but faint citrus-like smell.” Victor blushed harder. “I assumed at first that Yuuri was wearing a fake scent, a Cologne you called it, but I soon realised that I was wrong. Yuuri’s scent has become stronger over the course of the voyage and in the last couple of days it has become almost impossible to ignore. As an alpha I am, of course extremely sensitive to smells, and particularly the smell of an omega in pre-heat–”

“But I’m not an omega!” Yuuri almost shouted, finally getting the words out and wrenching his hands out of Sara’s grasp.

Victor touched Yuuri’s shoulder and immediately let go when he felt Yuuri flinch. “You  _ weren’t _ an omega. This is very embarrassing, but I have heard of some very rare occasions in the past where people who were perceived as a normal human - a beta as we would call them, have had their secondary dynamic emerge when they…” Victor paused and rubbed the back of his neck, “Met a possible mate.”

Sara and Yuuri looked at each other with wide eyes and then stared at Victor.

“Victor, I have done extensive research into the alphas and omegas before the flight as preparation for this voyage and nowhere have I found any mention of this happening. Although I cannot deny that Yuuri is showing all the symptoms as described in the documentation I read, but are you saying that  _ you _ are Yuuri’s mate?”

Yuuri stared at Sara in horror and then at Victor.  _ Mate _ ? It sounded like some sort of barbaric throwback to those times before the Dynamics left earth, when...no, no, he wasn’t going to be mated off like some sort of commodity.

“No! NO! This isn’t happening! I can’t… please, I have to go.” Yuuri pushed Sara and Victor away and with a horrified backwards glance stumbled out of the room.

Sara crossed her arms and glared at Victor, “I guess you’d better go after him.”

“Please, contact the Captain and have him send Phichit to Yuuri’s quarters, I need to be with you to speak to Chris.”

Sara gave him a stern look, but relayed a medical emergency order for Lieutenant Chulanont to go to Yuuri’s quarters, and as soon as she was assured that Phichit was on his way turned back to Victor, who was standing with his head in one hand.

“Victor?” When he looked up, Sara gestured to one of the chairs over by her desk, “why don’t you tell me about it and then you can go and see how Yuuri is doing in his quarters when everything has calmed down a bit.” They moved over to Sara’s desk and sat, Victor crossed his legs and leaned back although Sara could tell he was suppressing a lot of emotions.

“Can I ask how much you know about the dynamics Dr Crispino?” Victor’s voice was under rigid control even though he hid it well.

“You can call me Sara as well. We don’t have much information Victor. Most of what I have is from before the Flight so it’s a couple of centuries old and alphas and omegas on earth are extremely rare, so, again, information is lacking, and what we do have is biased towards the old way of thinking about alphas and omegas.” Sara noticed Victor’s lips thinning as he curbed his anger at that statement.

The communication panel on the desk lit up and Sara smiled and pressed the desktop with her finger an image of Dr Christophe Giacometti hovered above the desk.

“Thank you for answering my call so promptly Dr Giacometti.”

“Not a problem for a lovely lady, such as you.” Dr Giacometti winked at Sara who frowned deeply and then turned to look at Victor. “Victor! How lovely to see you. What can I do for you both?”

“We have a small problem Chris. One of the members of the Embassy to Proxima, Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki is descended from an omega and it seems that his proximity to myself has caused enough hormonal turmoil to force him into pre-heat. He’s not taking the news well. Can you help Dr. Crispino here replicate the correct drugs to suppress the heat until we get to Proxima and you can provide the necessary help.”

Chris whistled, “I’ve not heard of a case like that for decades.”

Victor looked down and examined his fingernails. “My alpha side is reacting strongly to his scent and I can tell that he’s reacting to me.”

“Hmm, let me see,” Chris looked down at something they couldn’t see and an alert lit part of Sara’s desk, “there, I’ve sent you a file containing all the information we know about the dynamics, it contains the latest medical research. There’s also a small amount of information on what we call Eligible Mates.”

Victor sat forward in interest and his fist clenched on the desk, “you think that this could be a case?”

Chris held up a hand, “possibly. It’s too early to tell, I’ll need to test both of you to be sure. Also Dr.Crispino I’ve sent you details of how to replicate the drugs that Lieutenant Katsuki will require to prevent the heat becoming a problem until we can assist him on Proxima. There’s also a drug that’s going to help Victor and prevent him going into rut, which is a real possibility if you are eligible mates.”

Sara had been looking between the two in curiosity while they talked and then with interest at the files that were coming up on her desktop, “I see. I can get to work on these drugs straight away, I should have them for Yuuri and Victor in a couple of hours.”

“Victor.”

“Yes, Chris?”

“You should go and be close to Lieutenant Katsuki until the drugs are ready, if we’re right about you and him your scent may help calm him, but don’t be in the same room. I don’t want to have to help you fight a prison sentence. You did the right thing, Victor. Dr Crispino, nice to have met you.” Dr Giacometti signed off with the kiss blown to both of them.

“Is he always like that?” Sara asked,

“Chris? Yes, always. He doesn’t mean anything by it. If you’ll excuse me Sara. I should go to Yuuri.” Victor held up a hand, “don’t worry, I won’t enter the room but I should be outside the door until you can get him those drugs.”

Sara nodded, already bringing up the relevant information. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, and thank you for your help Victor.”

Just before Victor left the room she spoke again. “Victor, what did Dr. Giacometti mean about a prison sentence?”

Victor looked back his fists tightening, “Can I…please answer your questions later. Don’t worry I’m fully aware of the problem.” Victor turned, leaving Sara with her mouth hanging open and left.

Finally escaping sick-bay, Victor quickly made his way to where the computer was displaying Yuuri’s quarters. The computer announced him to the occupant, but he was denied entry. Not that he wanted to go in, he wanted to retain some control and standing outside with a door between was much better. He leaned against the wall next to the door and thought about their date. Could that have triggered it? Could Yuuri’s body have responded so strongly to Victor that it triggered presentation of Yuuri’s dynamic even at the age of 24? Victor had only ever heard of one case of Eligible mates before now on Proxima. He smiled, Yuuri was his mate! After all these years he had found his mate. Victor then had to strongly repress the desire to get to Yuuri, to be with him at any cost. The door suddenly cracked open by a centimetre and Victor leaned over catching Yuuri’s scent, he was close behind the door.

“Yuuri?” Victor called. “Are you alright?”

“Not really, it’s all been a bit of a shock.” Came the eventual reply from near the floor. Victor sat down with his back to the door, trying to get as close as possible to Yuuri. He would help in any way he could until Sara arrived with the drugs.

~

Yuuri ran most of the way back to his quarters barely apologising to the crewmen he bumped into on the way, adrenalin clearing the fever temporarily . As soon as he pushed through his door he collapsed onto the bed. His skin prickled and he could feel the dampness of his uniform from the sweat that was pouring off him. Excusing himself from the meeting saying he felt sick was so embarrassing. Then to be told by Victor that they were mates! How was he ever going to redeem himself. He remembered the hundreds of little slights given by some of his teachers at the academy because of his omega heritage and groaned into his pillow. The heat was crawling up his body again and the itchiness was only relieved when he started to remove his clothes. He and Victor had never managed to have that talk about heats and ruts. Yuuri didn’t have the faintest clue what to expect which only caused his panic to increase. He tried to think through the fog in his mind; a shower, a shower would be a great idea.

As Yuuri stepped out of the shower, his head slightly clearer but his skin still sensitive he heard Phichit calling from the living area, “Yuuri, are you OK? I got an urgent call from Sara saying that I had to come to your quarters and stay with you. Do you need anything in there?”

“No, it’s OK.” Yuuri replied instinctively, not wishing to be a burden, but then realised that in his confusion he had not brought any fresh clothes into the room with him. “Actually, Phichit, can you find me something to wear, I didn’t bring anything in here with me.” Yuuri heard an OK from Phichit and then silence. Drying himself off with the towel he looked closely at his wrists and then at the base of his neck in the mirror. Sure enough there was an area of rough skin there too on each side. He put his hand up tentatively to touch it and then sniffed his fingers. Fresh from the shower without having become immune to his own smell yet, he could indeed smell a strong citrusy aroma. Why only now? He thought back to the dinner date with Victor and raked both hands through his hair when he realised that the urge he felt to mark Victor was an instinctive desire to bite Victor’s scent gland. “Oh shit!” Yuuri groaned.

“You OK in there?” Phichit’s voice was close to the door. On Yuuri’s mumbled yes, Phichit passed some clothes through.

Yuuri dressed rapidly as he could feel the fever gradually returning. He had to explain to Phichit what was going on before he became irrational again.

Coming out of the bathroom he nearly walked straight into Phichit who was hovering outside the door. Phichit grabbed Yuuri in a hug and Yuuri had a struggle not to push Phichit away, his skin was so oversensitive. “What’s wrong Yuuri? Come and sit down and tell me.” Phichit released Yuuri and pulled him over to the sofa. Yuuri huddled in the corner with his knees to his chest, struggling to put the thoughts in his head into some sort of order.

“The other night, when I had that dinner with Victor–”

“Ooo yes the date!” Phichit’s eyes sparkled.

“Shut up Phichit.” Yuuri glared at him. Phichit was instantly contrite and made a zipping motion over his mouth.

“–when I had that date with Victor, we ended up arguing and,” Yuuri paused, taking a deep breath, “and making out. Ever since then I’ve felt odd and this morning I felt like I was walking through soup, all the noises echoed in my head, like a headache without the actual pain. When Victor took me to sickbay he told Sara…” Yuuri found the words hard to get out as emotion clogged his throat. “He told Sara that I was presenting as an omega and going into heat.” Phichit’s eyes became round in horror.

“Oh shit Yuuri!” He breathed. “What does it feel like? What are you going to do?”

“That’s...that’s not all. He…” Yuuri just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t say it. He felt tears gathering and put his head on his knees. He felt Phichit scoot closer and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s OK Yuuri,” Phichit said quietly, “you don’t have to talk. Do you want me to stay with you or leave?”

Yuuri immediately looked up, “Stay, please...I don’t want you to see me panic,” Yuuri gave a wan smile, “but you’ve seen that many times and I’m scared of what will happen if you leave.”

“It’s no problem Yuuri, anything for my best friend. So what can–” Phichit was interrupted by a chime from the computer and an announcement of an incoming call from Dr Crispino. Phichit looked at Yuuri who swallowed and grated out an acceptance.

“Yuuri! Are you alright? Is Phichit there?” Sara’s voice was concerned.

“Yes, he is. I’m...I had a shower, but I still feel horrible. I...I’m so sorry for running out like that, it was extremely unprofessional.”

“Yuuri, don’t fret. I should have a solution for you in an hour or so.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Victor put me in contact with a Dr Giacometti from Proxima and they have a drug that can hold off the symptoms of a heat for the 2 days needed until we arrive on Proxima where they can help you through it. I should have replicated the drug and done the necessary tests soon and I’ll bring it to you straight away.

“But, you can’t cure it.” Yuuri’s voice was flat. Phichit’s hand was gripping Yuuri’s shoulder grounding him and making him feel not quite so alone.

“No, Yuuri. I don’t think there’s anything to be done about that, but maybe they have a solution on Proxima.”

“Th...thanks Sara.”

“It’s no problem Yuuri, I be there as soon as I can. In the meantime Victor is coming to you..”

“No.” Immediately his mind went to the horror stories he had been told about how alphas went crazy over an omega in heat and the things that omegas did while in heat. “I can’t.”

“Yuuri it’s OK, he’s not going to come in.” But Yuuri didn’t really hear Sara as the panic fogged his mind again.

Yuuri finally began to surface to hear Phichit calmly repeating, “It’s OK Yuuri, no one else is coming in until Sara gets here.”

Yuuri’s door chimed with the announcement that Ambassador Nikiforov wanted to see him. “It’s OK Yuuri, there’s no rush,” Phichit said before Yuuri could work himself into another fog, “Take a deep breath in, and out again, slowly.” Phichit waited until Yuuri had managed to do that several times. “Better?” Phichit asked. Yuuri nodded. “Sara still wants to talk to you.”

“Yuuri,” Sara was still there waiting until Yuuri had calmed enough, “Victor maybe outside your room, but he isn’t going to come in, he’s trying to help by being in close proximity to you until I can get the drugs to you. It will help you a lot according to Dr Giacometti’s notes if both of you are physically close. I suggest you allow the computer to open the door by a centimetre and sit against it.” There was a pause while Yuuri breathed deeply again, trying to get his wildly fluctuating emotions under control. “Yuuri? Can you do that for me?”

“I’ll try.” Yuuri blinked his eyes furiously, and breathed. It was going to be ok, his life was over but at least he wouldn’t sink into a heat onboard ship. His breathing got faster again.

Phichit looked at Yuuri seriously and said, “Listen to Sara, Yuuri.”

“Yuuri, breathe!” Sara commanded. “Stop thinking, crack open that door and talk to Victor. It’s not the way you’re thinking. I know, I heard all the stories too, but I’ve been reading the information Dr Giacometti sent and it’s not like that at all. OK? I’m going to get straight to work now on that drug. Go and sit against the door, it should help.”

“OK” Yuuri thought back to the conversations he had had with Victor, he knew that Victor would never hurt him. Yuuri had to overcome the prejudices against alphas that he had somehow absorbed over his lifetime. He managed to get his breathing under control again, cleared his throat and lifted his head. “Computer, only open the door by one centimetre and lock again.” He rasped through his tight throat. Phichit tightened his hand on Yuuri’s shoulder in reassurance. The computer chimed and the door cracked open by one centimetre. Phichit gently urged Yuuri to go and sit against the door on the floor. Yuuri couldn’t see anything through it, but he could smell Victor on the other side. Phichit sat on the floor facing Yuuri, he would be there if Yuuri needed him.

“Yuuri?” Victor called. “Are you alright?”

Yuuri tensed, his body responding to Victor’s voice and scent with an urge to throw open the door and damn the consequences. “Not really, it’s all been a bit of a shock.” Yuuri tried to speak clearly and heard Victor drag in a deep breath.

“I can imagine.” Victor’s tone was dry, but there was something off, something in the way it slightly wobbled as he spoke. “Dr Crispino is working on a temporary solution for you.”

“I know, she called me,” Yuuri was surprised to feel tears rolling down his cheeks, he thought he was hollowed out of emotion, but somehow Victor’s presence was enough to release the utter devastation he felt in the form of a flood of tears.

As he desperately tried to mop the tears and get himself back under control he heard Victor saying his name through the door.

“–ri. Yuuri, tell me if you’re listening.” Victor’s voice definitely not completely under control but Yuuri could tell he was making an effort. Victor was concerned not demanding like Yuuri would expect from an alpha.

“I’m listening.” Yuuri said softly and rested his cheek against the door; telling himself that the yearning he felt to be in Victor’s arms at the moment was just the omega hormones talking.

Victor cleared his throat, “We’ve talked before about how different things are on Proxima to earth.” He took a breath. “Did I ever tell you about the mountains on the island of Rebun?” Victor paused, obviously taking Yuuri’s silence as a no, “the island itself is one of the largest on the planet, it’s nearly into the northern frost zone so the caps are permanently covered in snow. They slope down to the plains below where the topar trees have rose tinted leaves and the blue sylan grass covers the ground. The main cities are carefully blended into the environment to keep the natural feel of the island. The colours and the sense of peace you get when you go there are amazing and I would like to take you there one day.” He paused again before asking, “How are you now?”

Yuuri sniffed and wiped his eyes, “better...I would like to go there one day, it sounds like Japan,” Yuuri smiled to himself, “apart from the blue grass.”

“I can tell you exactly what happens during a heat if you’d like to know? It may help you feel better about it.”

Yuuri thought for a bit. “OK...but if I want you to stop I’ll tell you.”

“Of course Yuuri.” Yuuri could hear Victor settling himself back against the door. “OK so you know the symptoms of pre-heat already.”

“Yeah. Feeling hot and itchy and needing comfort, I...I desperately want to touch you Victor, I want to be in your arms,” Yuuri sobbed. “I need you.” There was a long pause and Yuuri could hear Victor shifting against the door.

“I’m here, but I’m not coming in.” Victor’s breath hitched before he continued. “Not until Sara gets here with the drugs. I...I wouldn’t want you to hate me if we couldn’t restrain ourselves. Not to mention the legal penalties for an alpha assaulting an omega in heat without written permission.” Victor’s voice sounded strained, “if it’s any comfort Yuuri then I’m having nearly as much difficulty hearing you in distress and smelling your scent and not coming in to support you.” Yuuri felt tears roll down his cheek and drip onto the floor.

“I’m also getting this crazy urge to just go to bed and cover myself in blankets. Tell me about all of it Victor, I need to know.”

“Yuuri...I” Victor’s voice was strained and he paused. “What...what you’re experiencing is the desire to make a nest...an omega will try to make a place comfortable and smelling of their mate, it’s normal my Yuuri.” There was a shuffling sound and then a piece of fabric was poked through the gap in the door. “Here, take this.” Yuuri reached out and pulled the fabric through the door, as soon as he pulled it close Victor’s scent surrounded him and he could feel his muscles relaxing, but the desire to open the door increased. He buried his nose in the fabric and took a deep breath. Victor continued, “you’re...you’re in pre-heat which usually lasts about 2 days and then...then you will go into heat.” There was another long pause.

“Victor?” Yuuri, wondered what was going through Victor’s mind and he hugged the material closer, realising that Victor had passed Yuuri his jacket through the small gap.

“It’s difficult to explain, when you’re there and I’m on the other side of the door, Yuuri.” Yuuri heard a deep sigh. “A heat lasts 3 days, and you’ll experience increased sexual desire...it can lead to embarrassing behaviour, but on Proxima,” Victor cleared his throat. “On Proxima all children are taught self-control methods and meditations so that when they present heats and ruts aren’t so scary.”

Yuuri’s breath hitched, Victor’s voice grew softer, “don’t worry. That’s why we’re going to the clinic. There are people on Proxima who have problems adjusting and the clinics are there to help them through it and provide support and advice. They know what they’re doing, and I’ll...I’ll be with you, not in the same room, but close by and able to speak to you. There’s nothing to be ashamed of on Proxima it’s all a normal, everyday occurrence.” Victor paused. “How are you now?”

Yuuri looked at Phichit, who hadn’t moved through all of Victor’s conversation. “I’m still embarrassed, I still feel like I’m not in control of my own body. I’m so foggy, I just can’t think straight. How long has it been?”

Phichit looked up and asked the computer, “Computer where is Dr Sara Crispino?”  _ Dr Crispino is within twenty metres of this room. _ He looked at Yuuri and grinned, “she’s done it, she’ll be here any minute.”

~

Victor shifted uncomfortably against the door while Phichit talked to Yuuri. To know his mate was on the other side of the door, upset and struggling was pure torture. To be told that he had found an eligible mate and then be separated from them. Separated from the sweet, shy, intelligent and exasperating man Victor had come to know, by a thin door. Victor used every technique had had been taught to keep himself calm and answer Yuuri’s questions, but even so, it was hard. Hard not to push through the door and wrap Yuuri up in his arms, trying to protect him from everything that was happening to him.

Finally hearing that Sara was within reach he stood up from his undignified position on the floor and waited until she appeared.

“Victor!” Sara said in relief, “how’s Yuuri doing?”

“He’s surviving. He’s not happy. He could definitely do with that drug.”

“Here, this is for you.” Sara pressed the hypospray to Victor’s arm and he felt a cold sensation spread across his arm. Almost immediately he could feel himself relax and the urge to fight through the door to get to Yuuri receded, he sighed in relief. He had not realised just how close he had come to losing control.

“I think it would be best if I stayed outside until Yuuri wants to let me in. Just to calm his nerves.” Victor said.

Sara patted Victor on the arm, “It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“Yuuri,” Sara called, “Can you release the door lock so I can administer the drug?” Sara heard murmuring on the other side of the door and the door slid open, she walked through and it closed again behind her. Leaving Victor emotionally wrung out on the outside.

~

As soon as Yuuri heard Sara’s voice talking to Victor he backed away from the door, slowly because he found it difficult to put space between himself and Victor. It was as if there was a magnet holding them together. He sat next to Phichit on the floor and hugged his knees. When Phichit tentatively put his arm round Yuuri, he leaned in, needing some comfort at the moment.

When Sara requested entry he told the computer to open the door. She came straight in and walked up to him hypospray at the ready. “Here you are Yuuri.” The cold feeling dissipated rapidly. Yuuri immediately felt the fever beginning to drop. His thoughts calmed and the fog cleared. He relaxed against Phichit and felt his whole body droop with fatigue.

Sara held up her tricorder and made a pleased hum. “Yuuri, all your vital signs are returning to normal. According to Dr Giacometti’s notes you will probably still feel slightly hotter than normal, but all the other symptoms should be suppressed.”

Yuuri roused himself from his exhaustion enough to say thank you and Phichit and Sara helped him back to the sofa.

“Phichit can you get Yuuri a cold drink, please?” Sara watched Phichit walk to the replicator, “Yuuri, you’ll need to come to me every 12 hours to get another dose until we arrive on Proxima, OK?” Yuuri nodded, “I’m going to recommend that you take the rest of the day off, and tomorrow you have no duties anyway for the preparation for landing on Proxima the day after.” She paused and looked at him carefully, “Dr. Giacometti also gave me a drug for Victor to take as well. It seems that being eligible mates may affect him as well, and he looked in a pretty bad way when I arrived. The drug should have taken effect by now, can he come in?”

Yuuri first thought was to panic again, but that quickly turned to shame at the state he was in. He was about to tell Sara no, when Phichit presented him with a glass of water. “Drink this first before you say no,” at Yuuri’s look of surprise, Phichit grinned, “you forget how well I know you Yuuri. Has Victor been the alpha you imagined him to be at all on this journey?” Yuuri shook his head. “OK, so neither of you have gone through a personality reset. You trusted him before this happened so I think you can trust him now.”

Yuuri knew that Phichit was speaking common sense. He just felt so guilty at running away and then his panic. He sighed, “I know. You’re right. Computer, open the door.”

The door slid open and after a few seconds Victor appeared, Yuuri was shocked, he had only ever seen the suave politician in such a disheveled state after their Velocity match. Victor’s hair was all over the place and his clothes were completely rumpled.

“Yuuri?” Victor held out a hand but didn’t come forward.

Yuuri held out his hands and Victor strode quickly across the floor to grasp them, sinking to his knees in front of him. Victor’s hair was a mess and his eyes were harried and worn. Yuuri looked up in concern at Sara and Phichit, who were looking at the normally self composed ambassador in surprise. Yuuri looked back at Victor and tugged gently, bringing Victor up to sit beside him. He carefully put his arms around Victor and Victor tentatively hugged him back. Yuuri felt at home in a way he hadn’t felt in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let us know what you think and please follow [this link](http://oxytrezart.tumblr.com/post/175537347317/in-regards-to-dynamics-read-here-200-years-ago) to oxytrezart's wonderful drawing and let her know what you think too.
> 
> Chapter 5 will be up on Friday 3rd August, see you then :)


	5. Take off your shirt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The arrival on Proxima and Yuuri finally gets to meet Chris in person.

Yuuri was just returning from sickbay the next morning when he found Yakov standing outside his quarters. He hesitated and then pulled himself together, he certainly wasn’t going to appear professional if he ran away from his own Ambassador. He thought back to Victor the previous night who had wanted to stay with Yuuri, sleeping in the living area, but Sara had forbidden it, worried that neither would get a good night’s sleep in each other’s presence and as a final clincher to the argument told them that Dr Giacometti had expressly forbidden it in his notes to her. Victor had immediately capitulated and left after giving Yuuri the most intense look which left Yuuri wobbly at the knees.

“Ah, Lieutenant Commander Katsuki. I just asked the computer where you were and it said you were on the way back from sickbay. Dr Crispino spoke with me last night and told me why you were ill in the meeting and what you were going through.  I thought I’d come and check that everything was alright?” Yakov frowned, but then Yuuri couldn’t actually ever remember seeing him smile.

“Er, yes, Ambassador Feltsman, I was just getting another dose of the drug from Dr Crispino.” Yuuri paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “Would you like to come in?”

Yuuri ushered Yakov in through the door and when they were both seated with a drink Yakov said, “Don’t worry Lieutenant-Commander, it’s not something that anyone expected to happen. I’ve already had to endure apologies from Victor, who seems to think it’s his fault. You’re lucky.” Yakov paused, and Yuuri looked up, surprised at those two words. “If this was going to happen then you are in the right place at the right time. You are lucky that the perfect facilities will be available to help you on Proxima and that Victor Nikiforov is an admirable man who seems to only have the best intentions towards you.” Yuuri made as if to interrupt but Yakov held up a hand, “you can be sure that I questioned him extensively on what this all meant and how this would be seen on Proxima as well as how this would impact the job you’ve been sent to do and he reassured me on all those points. I will excuse you from any duties as part of the embassy for the week Victor tells me that it will take for you to recover. I expect you to be on the bridge though when we enter the Proxima system as part of the team. Captain Cialdini informs me that this will be at 1400 hours tomorrow. Dress uniform please.”

“Th...thank you Sir,” Yuuri managed to stammer, “I will be there on time.”

Yakov placed his cup on the table and nodded to Yuuri, “I have every faith in you Yuuri. Once the obvious bias from your superiors was taken into account, it was hard not to be impressed by your credentials. That’s why you made the team.” Yakov pulled his suit straight and walked out leaving Yuuri with his mouth hanging open.

For a while after Yuuri couldn’t move, he was so astonished at Yakov’s attitude and praise that his brain just repeated the encounter several times.

Phichit was waiting for Yuuri outside sickbay after he’d received the next dose and wouldn’t take no for an answer as he dragged Yuuri off to the recreation room.

“Victor’s been sitting there all evening, pining, Yuuri. It’s too sad to watch. He needs cheering up and you need to stop hiding.”

“I’m not hiding.” Yuuri exclaimed. He wasn’t hiding he was just...just thinking. “I’ve had a lot to think about.”

Phichit gave him a serious look, still dragging Yuuri with him relentlessly, “Yes, you have had a lot to think about, but you also need to stop thinking so much and think about something different, like, I don’t know,” Phichit waved his free hand in the air, “reassuring your boyfriend that you’ve forgiven him.”

Yuuri pulled back and they both stopped, “He’s not my boyfriend Phichit!”

“Oh, then what is he? Hmm? Just another poor heartbroken soul you’re going to leave trailing in your wake?”

Yuuri’s jaw dropped, “That’s unfair!”

“Is it?” Phichit started pulling Yuuri along again, listing all the people whose hearts Yuuri had apparently broken over the years he had known Yuuri. Some of whom Yuuri didn’t even remember.

They walked into the recreation room and over to the area where the team was gathered. Yuuri could see that Victor was looking mournfully into a glass of blue liquid while everyone else was chatting about arriving the next day and what they could expect. Phichit continued to drag him over to everyone else before finally letting go.

“Yuuri!” Mila jumped up and grabbed Yuuri’s other hand before Yuuri could even think about giving a greeting, “Well done Phichit! Come and sit down, both of you. Yuuri, you have to tell us all how you beat Victor in your Velocity match. We’re all dying to know, he won’t say anything about it, just keeps waffling about how amazing you are and that he can’t wait to play you again.”

Yuuri grinned and decided that  _ what the hell, _ he was going to take some revenge on Victor for not telling him the truth about his skill level, even though he had apologised for it, “It’s good to see the Ambassador knows when he’s met his match.” Yuuri played the scene for all it was worth, even going to extent of fake polishing his outfit and examining his knuckles in pride.

Victor had looked up as Mila greeted Yuuri with a slight smile on his face, but now his hand was shading his eyes as he looked at the floor.

“Victor?” Yuuri asked. Victor looked up and Yuuri could finally see the laughter in his face, he couldn’t help grinning back as Victor laughed out loud.

“So, no one told me that Victor was a hot shot Velocity player, and he let me assume he was a beginner. I decided to go easy on him at first, I didn’t want to put him off playing against me too quickly. I didn’t realise he was also doing the same thing–”

“I was not!” Victor interrupted indignantly.

“You were, that first shot to your side should have been easy to repel.” Yuuri allowed his mouth to quirk up on one side because he couldn’t fully repress the smile that wanted to break free.

“Well, maybe a little. But only at first, I soon had to fight for every shot.” Victor protested.

Yuuri went on to recount the match shot by shot, making sure that Victor was fully aware of how offended Yuuri had been when he found out. Phichit, Mila, Michele and Minami were sitting and laughing at the appropriate points, interjecting comments and generally teasing Victor. Yuuri relaxed, finally, grateful to Phichit for not allowing him to sit and stew in his room. At some point during the evening he found himself sitting right next to Victor with their feet tangled together under the table and it was with reluctance that Yuuri parted from him at the end of the day.

~

Yuuri stood on the bridge with Victor close by. They watched the large screen in front of Captain Celestino as the ship came out of warp and the star system appeared in front of them. Ambassador Feltsman was standing just to the side of Celestino. Yuuri gasped. He had seen pictures of course, but nothing had quite prepared him for the view of the ternary star system, the incandescent glow of Alpha Centauri A, the dull red of Proxima Centauri and the last one, the one they were heading for Alpha Centauri B.  It would still take the rest of the day to arrive at sub-light velocity but the formalities had to be dealt with first.

“Incoming transmission from Proxima Captain,” Phichit said.

“On screen.” Celestino stood and walked forward slightly, gesturing for Yakov and Victor to join him as the image of a severe woman, her face perfectly made up and her hair tied back in a bun came onto the screen.

“Welcome to Proxima Captain Celestino, I am Lilia Baranovskaya, the Premiere of Proxima. We look forward to greeting you on your arrival. My people are eager to meet your team, and the scientists are clamouring for the help they will receive. This is a very kind gesture from Earth and we look forward to improving the relationships between our planets in the future.” Lilia paused, “I am sorry to hear of the medical issues with Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki,” she nodded in Yuuri’s direction, “Dr Giacometti is standing by. Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki should transport directly to Dr Giacometti’s clinic while we greet you and your crew.” Premiere Baranovskaya sat back in her chair and gave a small smile.

“Thank you, Premiere Baranovskaya. We appreciate your assistance.” Celestino answered.

“Madam Premiere, I need to accompany the Lieutenant-Commander to Dr Giacometti’s clinic.” Victor stated. The Premiere looked startled at first and then narrowed her eyes and leaned forward.

“Victor,” The Premiere started. Yuuri was surprised at the casual way she addressed Victor and would have blushed if he had not already been bright red from having his problem discussed so openly. “Your presence is needed, to smooth over the relations between the two groups for the first couple of days on Proxima.” Lilia’s lips thinned. “We cannot afford to have any misunderstandings and it would be unfair to leave all this to Mila.”

Victor bowed his head, “Very well.”

Lilia turned back to Yakov and Celestino and gave permission for them to proceed into orbit around Proxima.

As soon as the screen cleared, Victor excused himself from Yakov and Celestino and hurried over to Yuuri.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t make a fuss in public, let me accompany you back to your quarters and I will try to contact Lilia again.” Victor touched Yuuri on the arm lightly. “Yuuri?”

Yuuri was frozen, he couldn’t seem to look away from the view of the star system the screen was now showing. In a few hours he would be experiencing a heat for the first time. There was no getting out of it, no hiding from it. He could feel the panic clawing at his gut again. He forced himself to look up at Victor. “Yes?” he said faintly. “Victor, please get me out of here.”

Victor excused himself from the bridge and gently guided Yuuri to the turbolift.

Once back at Yuuri’s quarters Yuuri sank onto the couch in his living space, he crossed his arms on his knees and let his head fall onto them. He would not cry again, he wouldn’t. He felt a hand resting on his shoulder.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Yes,” Yuuri forced the word out around the terror that was gripping him. The logical part of his brain that was still functioning was telling him that this wasn’t as bad as the day before. He searched for something he could hang on to. Something that would lessen the terror he felt at the possibility of becoming something else. Someone who was not himself. Not in control. He realised that Victor was kneading the muscles in his arm and shoulder. He forced himself to raise his head and look at Victor who was kneeling in front of him looking concerned.

“Yuuri, I’m coming with you to the clinic. I’ll be with you, even if not actually in the room and it will make your heat easier if I’m close by. It will be over so quickly. Let me see if I can persuade Lilia again, and if persuasion won’t work then threats might.” Victor stood and faced the screen on Yuuri’s wall.

“Computer connect me to Premiere Baranovskaya on Proxima.” Victor commanded.

“This is Premiere Baranovskaya’s office, what can I do for you Victor?”

“Georgi, this is a matter of urgency. I need you to put me through to Lilia.”

“I’m afraid Lilia is very busy making preparations for the arrival of the Earth delegation Victor, she is not answering any calls at the moment.” Yuuri could see from Victor’s clenched fists that he wasn’t happy about being put off.

“Georgi, I won’t be part of a political charade. If Lilia does not get back to me in the next 10 minutes then this will have been the last favour I ever do for her, Aunt or not.”

Yuuri jumped in surprise, the Premiere of Proxima was Victor’s  _ aunt _ ? He swallowed nervously, he knew Victor was a high-ranking politician but hadn’t even thought that he would be this well connected.

“I’ll see what I can do Victor, I can’t promise anything though.” Georgi sighed dramatically.

“Tell her that I’m not going to be with the earth delegation, I’m going to Chris Giacometti’s clinic, even if I’m barred from using the transporters and have to fly down there myself.” Victor signed off and then ran his hand through his hair.

He turned to Yuuri, “I’m coming with you, nothing they can do will stop me.”

“Thank you. Really.” They both looked up as the computer informed them of an incoming call from Premiere Baranovskaya, Victor grinned and gripped Yuuri’s hand as Yuuri allowed the call through and stood up beside Victor to greet the Premiere.

“Victor! Have…”

“Lilia.” Victor interrupted, “Have you spoken to Chris?”

“I haven’t had time, Victor. This trade and technology deal is very important.” She glanced at Yuuri. “Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki is a vital part of the team Victor, that  _ you _ Victor are leading. For both of you to disappear for a week right at the start is inconvenient to say the least.” Victor’s grip on Yuuri’s hand became tighter.

“Lilia. If you had spoken to Chris, you would have known that Yuuri and I are probably Eligible Mates and I’m sure that after a blood test that will be confirmed.” Lilia drew a sharp breath in at Victor’s words, but he continued relentlessly. “I will not be separated from Yuuri until after he has had his heat.”

“Will you be sharing his heat Victor?” Lilia asked sharply.

“Not that that is any of your business, but no. Our relationship is too new and Yuuri has only just presented.” Yuuri gripped Victor’s hand back, “but I will be close by so that his omega side is comforted. Do you have any further questions for us?” Yuuri could tell that Victor’s temper was frayed.

Yuuri was comforted by Victor’s vehemence in confronting Lilia and raised his chin slightly to show he would not back down in the face of her domineering behaviour.

Lilia gave them both a stern look. “Very well. Victor you are granted a leave of absence for one week to help Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki through his heat and for a recovery period after as usual on Proxima. After that I expect you both back to work, there will be a backlog to deal with. This is most unexpected.” Lilia grumbled but then looked at Yuuri, “I apologise Lieutenant-Commander, for appearing to be intolerant. I do not like disrupted plans. I hope that when we meet you will forgive my rudeness.” Yuuri nodded, unable to find any words and she looked back at Victor, “One week, Victor! Farewell.” She immediately signed-off and the screen went dark.

Yuuri realised that he was shaking in reaction and sat down heavily. Victor sat beside him and as he placed an arm carefully around Yuuri’s shoulders, Yuuri fell into his arms and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.” Yuuri was too emotional to say more. They hugged until Yuuri had calmed down and Victor pulled away, gripping Yuuri by the shoulders.

“What I said 2 days ago still applies Yuuri, heats and ruts are perfectly natural and commonplace on Proxima and it’s nothing to be afraid of or ashamed about. Lilia is upset because they can usually be planned for and worked around” He looked at Yuuri seriously and carefully placed his hand on Yuuri jaw, Yuuri closed his eyes and leaned in to Victor’s hand. “You are a vital part of this embassy and Lilia is going to be deprived of you for a week.” He paused. “Let’s get this packing done shall we?”

~

As soon as Phichit had finished his shift on comms on the bridge he was at Yuuri’s quarters, demanding to be let in. It was obvious from the positions that Victor and Yuuri were in when he walked through the door that they had been kissing. Yuuri’s face was red, his hair messier than usual and Victor was standing by the window breathing hard.

Phichit raised an eyebrow. “I thought Sara said that you two weren’t supposed to be alone together?”

Yuuri looked guilty and Victor turned to face Phichit looking stern. “I am just leaving. I needed to contact Premiere Baranovskaya to persuade her to let me accompany Yuuri to the clinic. We needed to do that in privacy.”

Phichit felt a little awed by the seriousness in Victor’s tone, but after quickly glancing at Yuuri he stuck his chin out stubbornly, “I just came to check on Yuuri. He looked really embarrassed on the bridge after that and I wanted to make sure he was OK.”

Victor smiled, Yuuri stood up and came over to give Phichit a hug, “thanks Phichit, you’ve been such an amazing friend. I’m so glad you got to come on this trip as well.”

Phichit hugged Yuuri back tightly, “That’s what friends do, they stick up for their buddies.  _ Are _ you ok?”

“Yes, Premiere Baranovskaya gave permission for Victor to come to once she understood the full situation.” Yuuri grinned ruefully at Phichit. “As much as I didn’t want this to happen, Yakov made me realise yesterday how much worse it would have been if it had happened on Earth.”

Phichit grimaced at that thought, “Yes, good point. Will you be OK without me?”

“I’ll have to be Phichit, even though I’ll miss you for the week I’ll be in the clinic.” Yuuri turned and smiled at Victor, “I’ll have Victor there to help me even if he can’t be with me in the room.”

Victor came forward at this and put his hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. “Yuuri will be monitored at all times and everything possible will be done to ensure his safety. I trust Chris like I trust my family. Yuuri will be fine, Phichit.”

“OK,” Phichit assessed the tall silver haired man standing at his best friend’s side, and then nodded decisively “I think you’re a good guy and I do trust you.” He grabbed Yuuri in another hug, “Be safe and I’ll see you in a week.”

~

“Victor! How lovely to see you again. It’s been so quiet around here without you.” Dr Giacometti was standing at the entrance to the clinic as the transporter technician on board the ship beamed them down right outside. Yuuri glanced around curiously, the low built white building was nestled into the hillside, with the small garden they had beamed into between the hill and the building. Yuuri could hear nothing apart from the churring of insects in the humid air. Dragging his eyes away from the peaceful garden Yuuri looked at Chris. He had been half expecting a white lab coat, but the doctor couldn’t be more different to the scientist Yuuri had pictured in his head. He was dressed casually in tight fitting trousers and a shirt with rolled up sleeves. His stubbled face was friendly and his green eyes lit up at the sight of Yuuri and Victor.  Victor walked swiftly over to grab the doctor in a bear hug. “Careful Victor, don’t upset Yuuri now.” Chris smirked and winked at Yuuri as Victor released him. Yuuri warmed to him immediately and a further layer of worry slid off his shoulders.

“Your luggage arrived a short while ago, transported straight into your rooms. It’s quite impressive how you managed to do that so accurately just based on the coordinates I gave. If you come with me, there’s just a few tests we need to complete first.” Chris lowered his voice, “Lilia has been in contact.”

“Oh dear!” Victor said with a smile, “did she give you a hard time?”

“She was, how should I say it...opinionated.” Chris winked at Yuuri again. Yuuri smiled back, it seemed that this Dr Giacometti was on their side. “But Victor, I need to be officially introduced. This is a terrible oversight on your part, such a gorgeous mate you’ve found.” Yuuri blushed deeply and Victor walked back over to where Yuuri was still standing, took his hand and gently pulled him over.

“Chris meet Lieutenant-Commander Katsuki, PhD. Yuuri I’d like you to meet my oldest friend Dr Christophe Giacometti, head of this clinic.”

Yuuri was surprised at Victor emphasising his PhD and reached out a hand, “nice to meet you Dr. Giacometti.”

“Oh please, call me Chris. I’m very pleased to meet you too.” Chris took his hand and shook vigorously. “Now, come with me and we’ll get all the boring stuff done and dusted before dinner. You will join me for dinner won’t you.” Chris guided them both through the foyer of the clinic towards a large picture window at the back of the hall and down a corridor, brightly lit by windows looking down the hillside over a huge city and beyond to the sparkling sea.

Yuuri paused, “It’s beautiful! Is this the capital?”

“Yes, this is Innessey,” Victor stopped and put his hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. He pointed off to one side of the city with the other hand, “I live over there. My apartment has a similar view. I think you’ll like it.” Yuuri coloured at the implication that he would be sharing Victor’s apartment and then realised that Victor may have just meant that Yuuri would be visiting him at home. He suddenly wondered what the accommodation was like for the embassy and how Phichit was doing, he felt a stab of guilt at the thought of leaving his best friend for a whole week.

“You said dinner? Shouldn’t I go somewhere else, so I can...you know...er, have my heat?” Yuuri faltered in embarrassment, looking at the surprise on their faces.

“Not at all,” Chris said gently. “Yuuri, has Victor not explained to you what happens during a heat?”

“Yes, yes he did, but I thought, what with me being not from here and in a clinic that it would be different.” Yuuri’s words rushed over each other.

“Ah, terminology problems.” Chris said enigmatically. Yuuri looked at him, puzzled. “You obviously have a different idea of what a clinic is to the one we run here. We’ll take a slight diversion on the way to your rooms and I’ll show you the highlights.” Chris carried on walking and showed them through to an area which opened out into an open air garden. A large rectangular pool occupied the middle with hanging vines around the covered walkway round the edge of the garden. “Because of the climate on Innessey we took a lot of architectural inspiration from the old roman and egyptian cultures on earth. The clinic is designed to promote peacefulness and calm.”

“It’s beautiful.” Yuuri breathed. A movement caught Yuuri’s attention and he watched in astonishment as a small creature alighted on a plant nearby. “What is that?”

Victor didn’t answer straight away but made a peculiar trilling noise, the dragon-like creature lifted it’s head and flew on gossamer wings over to hover in front of Victor. “We call them dragonflies, after the earth insect.” He said quietly.

“Here,” Chris said quietly, passing Yuuri a piece something dried. “Hold it out.”

Yuuri tentatively held out his hand with the food in his palm and the dragonfly settled on his fingers, wings still beating as it’s needle-like claws gripped gently, it looked up at Yuuri’s face and grabbed the food with it’s fore-claws, immediately taking off again to go and hide in the hanging vines. Yuuri let out the breath he was holding and turned to Victor. “Is all the wild-life on this planet so beautiful?”

“Not all of it, but we are very lucky.”

“This is a space for anyone to come and relax so the dragonflies are used to being fed. We have other areas as well for omegas and alphas who need to come here for various reasons.” Chris directed them down another corridor and opened a door at the end. “This is my office if we just go in to complete paperwork and there’s a couple of blood tests I need to do to see if you are eligible mates and then you can relax.”

Yuuri uncomfortably sat through the paperwork and the blood sampling. He was never very good at being prodded and poked by doctors. He gave a vehement “No.” when Chris asked whether he needed someone to help him through the heat. The thought of some stranger in the room seeing him in such a state was like his bad dreams come to life. Chris hastily reassured Yuuri that the heat assistant would be there to prevent Yuuri from dehydrating and with cleaning himself, there was nothing sexual about it; but Yuuri firmly denied any help.

Just when he was about to start screaming in frustration Chris stopped fussing over them, “The last injection that Sara gave you should last until 2200. I’d love to catch up with all that’s been going on over dinner, shall we say 1900. That will give you time to settle in and get used to the room and we can get a decent meal into you.”

Victor looked at Yuuri, who swallowed and nodded. Victor then grinned, looking back at Chris, “It would be great to catch up Chris, and I’ve got no doubt Yuuri and I will have questions for you. I look forward to it.”

Chris pushed himself out of his chair and gestured to the door, “I’ll show you to your rooms now.”

~

The rooms they were shown to were at the end of a covered walkway which had an open side onto another beautiful garden. Chris opened a door which led into a small hall with two other doors. He turned to the right and opened the door.

“This will be your room for the next week Yuuri, and Victor’s room is exactly the same as yours next door. The air filters between the rooms are linked so your scents will be an aid to each other and your rooms are also fully sound linked as well so you can hear each other unless you turn it off. All you need is already in here,” they walked in to the room, “and I see your luggage has already been delivered. I’ll leave you now to settle in and I’ll see you for dinner in a couple of hours. And feel free to ask anything you like, don’t be embarrassed, we’ve all been through it.” Chris clapped Victor on the shoulder and smiled at Yuuri before leaving.

Yuuri turned to take in the room. The large bed was sideways against the wall that was adjoining Victor’s room covered in multiple coloured pillows. Right next to it was a cabinet with bottles of some sort of coloured liquid laid out on top. Then he looked out of the window which took up the whole of one wall. The glass was totally obscured, but there was obviously another garden beyond. On the opposite wall to the bed was an open archway to what looked like a massive bathroom and then the final wall was just cupboard space with Yuuri’s luggage piled up in front of it.

Yuuri then realised that when Chris said we’ve all been through it, he meant it literally. He was now on a planet where virtually everyone was either an alpha or an omega. Everyone he would meet would have presented and have gone through heats or ruts. Yuuri felt his head spinning at the thought and moved to sit down on the bed before he fell over.

“Yuuri, are you OK?” Victor knelt down before Yuuri and put his hand on his knee.

Yuuri looked up and smiled, “Yes. Yes I am. For the first time since all this started, I actually feel OK.” Yuuri’s let his smile grow, and Victor smiled back. Yuuri reach out a hand to stroke Victor’s cheek, “I just realised that I’m not alone anymore,” Victor looked puzzled, “I’m not an omega descendant or an omega on a world of normal people. I’m normal here! I’m just another person. I don’t have to hide anything anymore.” Yuuri leaned forward and hugged Victor, “I want you to be with me while I go through it.”

“I will be. I think the beds are mirrored. If you touch the wall I’ll be right on the other side.”

Yuuri drew back and shook his head, “No, I meant, I want you to be here in this room with me.”

Victor drew in a shaky breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “I can’t Yuuri.”

“Why not? Chris mentioned heat assistants?” Yuuri looked straight at Victor.

Victor’s grip on Yuuri’s knee tightened, “Heat assistants are the same secondary gender or betas and wear scent masks, they have special training. If I’m with you it will probably trigger an alpha rut and there are rules to stop people taking an advantage of omegas or alphas in heat or rut. As soon as your pre-heat started those rules started applying. ”

“I see.” Yuuri felt suddenly angry, his world had been turned upside down and now he felt as if he was being denied the only bit of comfort he’d asked for. “I trust you Victor. You...you’ve been nothing but kind to me despite my panic attacks. I don’t believe you would ever take advantage of me.” Yuuri fisted his hands. “It’s going to be a very lonely three days without you.”  

Victor raised himself to sit beside Yuuri on the bed and gathered Yuuri in his arms. “You have no idea how the fact that you want me makes me feel. I want you so much, I want to know every part of you.” Yuuri felt Victor’s lips ghosting across his neck and fire shot to his groin. He leaned in and Victor suddenly held him away, his fingers gripping Yuuri’s shoulders painfully, his eyes full of what Yuuri hoped was longing. “I...I can see now why Chris ordered us apart on board ship.” Victor lips twisted, “I’m surprised he’s left us alone now.” He looked down and mumbled, “I can’t stay away from you.”

“Victor, does it really have to be like this?” Yuuri felt the nervousness returning at the thought of what the next few days would bring and he would have to face it alone.

Victor grimaced, “you haven’t seen the paperwork that a pair has to go through before a heat in order to share it.” He gave Yuuri an intense look, his blue eyes fixing Yuuri in place. “Next time. Next time will be different.” He patted Yuuri on the shoulders and sighed. “But we should think about other things; unpacking! We have to get you all unpacked and settled in before the meal. We haven’t got long.” Victor’s voice changing to a fun, light tone was unnerving.

Victor jumped up and started investigating the cupboards in the room. Yuuri remained sitting on the bed wondering why he had even thought the suggestion was a good idea. It wasn’t like he had no experience with sex, but three days of constant sex, with Victor. Shit, Yuuri struggled to get himself under control, maybe it was a good idea to separate them. He sighed and reluctantly started to move over to his luggage on the other side of the room only to be interrupted by a thoughtful hum from Victor who had removed the lid of a box in the cabinet next to the bed.

“What is it?” Yuuri asked, moving over to look. Only to be presented with an array of clinically wrapped sex toys. “Oh!”

Victor gave Yuuri a sideways glance, “Have you used these sorts of things before Yuuri?”

“I...yes,” Yuuri firmly closed the lid of the box. “So, do you know how the communications work between the rooms?” Yuuri changed the subject, still trying to avoid thinking about the next few days and uncomfortable with the thought of sex in the sterile smelling room.

“I believe it’s all automatic,” Victor looked over at Yuuri who was trying to arrange the multiple pillows provided on the bed into a more comfortable shape. Victor moved over “All you have to do is say each other’s names and we’ll be connected.”

Yuuri realised that what he was doing was pointless displacement activity and decided that he had to face what he was nervous about, “I don’t know how any of this is supposed to work Victor! Am I going to be out of my mind in a few hours time? Will I be rational enough to hold a conversation?”

“Yes! Yes, you will. Whatever you must have heard is all exaggeration Yuuri! It’s a little like being drunk. You lose your inhibitions and feel increased sexually awareness as I said, but you’re not some sort of animal.”

Yuuri put down the pillow he was clutching and moved so he was hugging Victor. “I’m scared.” He finally admitted.

“I can understand my Yuuri, a first heat is not an easy experience for a teenager, as well as someone presenting later in life.” Victor’s smile grew, “At least I don’t have to explain the toys to you.”

Yuuri gasped and thumped Victor on the arm. “Ouch! Yuuri! So violent, not at all like a sweet gentle omega should be.” Yuuri was open mouthed in shock for a second until he realised that the grin on Victor’s face meant that he was still being teased. He reached behind him and grabbed the pillow, hitting Victor in the face with it.

“I’ll give you sweet and gentle,” He growled. Victor laughed, only to get another face full of pillow.

A cough from the door interrupted them just as Yuuri had managed straddle Victor on the floor and was repeatedly hitting him with the pillow. Victor laughing uncontrollably and defending himself as much as he was able. “It’s lovely to see you both getting on well, but I thought I’d better check to see if everything’s all right as I was coming back this way?” Chris was standing in the door.

“Spying on us already Chris?” Victor asked.

“Well the monitors did show elevated heart rates, so I needed to check.” Chris winked. Yuuri bit his lip and raised his eyes to the ceiling as he climbed off Victor and gave the disheveled man a hand up.

“I suppose I’ll have to get used to being monitored at all times, hmm?” Yuuri said.

“Not at all,” Chris corrected. ”But, we do monitor anyone in the clinic before and during a heat or a rut. We have to make sure everyone is safe at all times. I would encourage you to continue as it’s an effective method of spreading Victor’s scent around the room.” Chris voice turned serious as he looked at Yuuri. “Speaking as your doctor, it will be a very good idea for you to allow Victor to scent as much of the bed and nesting materials as he can, and for you to do the same in Victor’s room, before you come to dinner.”

Victor looked at Yuuri and grinned devilishly, “Yuuri? Would you...do you want me to scent anything for you. It may make it easier for you. I could roll around on your bed naked for a while.” He winked. Yuuri spluttered, trying not to laugh.

Chris choked with laughter at the door, “Victor! I don’t want to have to separate you before tonight. But yes roll around on Yuuri’s bed, but keep your clothes on.”

Yuuri shyly looked at Victor and then pushed him back onto the bed with the pillow he was still holding. “Go on then.”

~

After a much needed shower in the luxurious bathroom, which with much pouting on Victor’s part Yuuri had on his own, sending Victor off to his own room to get ready for dinner. Victor lead Yuuri to Chris’ apartment which was separate from but adjoining the clinic.

Chris answered the door in casual clothes and immediately gave them a glass, noticing Yuuri’s wary look, he said, “it’s only fruit juice, alcohol wouldn’t be a good idea at the moment.” He lead them through the minimally furnished apartment to the terrace. Yuuri gasped, the sea sparkled straight below, pillars of rock jutted out with what looked like sea birds flying around them. Looking to the side he saw the high rise buildings of the city as the cliff face drew back in land. “I am very lucky to live here, it’s a very peaceful place.” Chris said.

“It certainly is,” Yuuri agreed. Dinner had been laid out on the table on the terrace, places set for three and before long, Yuuri felt himself relax into the conversation between old friends. Chris told Yuuri some of his history; how he had never presented with a secondary gender and was known as a beta, putting him in the perfect position to be head of the clinic. The Proximans had managed not to fall into the trap of reversing the discrimination they experienced on Earth and Chris had never been made to feel he was less of a person because he was a beta. The conversation moved on to Victor’s whirlwind tour of earth, but Yuuri didn’t feel left out and after the turmoil of the last few days, he was grateful for a chance to wind down.

At some point he moved his chair to be next to Victor and settled into the curve of Victor’s arm, nearly falling asleep, until he was roused by Victor’s voice calling his name, “Yuuri.”

“Yes?” He said sleepily.

“You need to go back now, the drugs you’ve been taking will wear off in about half an hour,” Chris said. “I’ll walk back with you. I have to officially make sure your rooms are secure for the duration of your heat Yuuri. Just so you know I’m not checking up on you. Although normally I would delegate this task to someone else, but Victor is my oldest friend.” Chris patted Victor on the arm and winked at Yuuri.

Yuuri had woken up by the time they reached the entrance to their rooms and Victor and Yuuri just stood there looking at each other, Chris coughed and said, “I’ll just be looking this way for 5 minutes,” and turned around.

No words were actually necessary. Yuuri held out his hands to Victor. Victor paused and then brought Yuuri’s wrists up to his face. He kissed each wrist and Yuuri’s mouth fell open as sensation shot up each arm. He drew in a sharp breath. Victor then rubbed Yuuri’s wrist against his cheek and smiled gently, “that will never be sufficient my Yuuri, but it will have to last for the next three days.

“Take off your shirt.” Yuuri suddenly demanded and started to remove his own. Chris turned back around with his eyebrows raised. Yuuri balled his shirt up and thrust it at Victor, whose eyes widened and he rapidly did the same. Chris put his head in his hand, “you guys are going to be the death of me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple this obsessed with each other and not sharing a heat.” Both Victor and Yuuri coloured but stayed looking at each other. “Right, kiss each other good night and off to your rooms, and stop making me sound like a parent.” They grinned at each other. Victor leaned in first and was obviously intending to give Yuuri a chaste kiss on the lips, but Yuuri wrapped his hands around Victor’s head and kissed him until his head spun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter should be up on Sunday the 5th August. See you then!


	6. Dance with me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri has his heat and starts his new life on Proxima.
> 
> This chapter earns the fic the E rating. I have put the smutty bit between *******s so you can skip it if you want to. You may miss a bit, but it should still be readable. Please be patient with me, this is only the second sex scene I’ve ever written ;)

Chris followed Yuuri into his room. Yuuri looked at him, puzzled.

“I just need to check that you know where everything is and what to do.” Chris said. Yuuri nodded and sat down on the bed. “OK so you’re rooms are linked and all you have to do is say Victor’s name and he’ll be able to hear you and you him. If you shout or even mumble the word ‘help’ then one of our team of medics will be sent to help you. Hopefully it will be me, someone you’re already familiar with, but I do need to sleep so I can’t guarantee it. You have rehydration fluids on the counter there and high energy snack bars. Use them, you’ll recover quicker afterwards. Do you have any questions Yuuri?”

“I...I don’t think so.” Yuuri thought for a bit, clutching Victor’s shirt to himself. “I can smell a difference in the scent of the room. It doesn’t feel so sterile. I’m a lot more comfortable here than I was earlier.”

“That’s good.” Chris looked at Yuuri seriously, “Are you sure that you want to do this on your own?”

Yuuri nodded and looked at the floor, “I don’t want anyone to see me like this other than Victor.”

“That’s fine, no one is going to judge you. So, you have,” Chris looked at his watch, “about ten minutes before you start feeling light headed and slightly hotter. Did Victor tell you what happens in a heat?”

“Yes, he did...but I was in the middle of a panic attack and I’m not sure how much I remember.”

“Do you want me to go over it for you?”

“No...no, I think I’ll be ok. In fact,” Yuuri grinned up at Chris, “I’ve never had the opportunity to masturbate for three days straight before.”

“Yuuri! I never knew you had it in you.” Chris grinned back, “Well I’ll leave you to it then, have fun.” Chris winked and left.

Chris seemed to be a nice guy Yuuri thought. He lay back on the bed going over the events of the last two days. Yakov pointing out how much worse it could have been if this had happened on Earth had made Yuuri reconsider the problem in a new light. He could finally begin to feel excited about the future rather than nervous. It was becoming very obvious that Proxima was completely different to Earth in so many ways and Yuuri felt as if he could really fit in here in a way that hadn’t been possible on Earth.

As he lay on the bed Yuuri became conscious that the euphoric feeling he was experiencing wasn’t entirely due to his own reasoning. It was very similar, as Victor had said to the lifting of the spirits when you started to get drunk. _I just hope the hangover isn’t as bad,_ he thought ruefully.

His body started to feel hotter, and he undressed slowly. A slight confusion over the fastenings left him giggling at his clumsiness. Finally free of the restriction of clothes he searched for the shirt that Victor had given him. He lifted it to his face and breathed in heavily. He immediately felt safe and comforted, he crawled further into the bed arranging the pillows that Victor had scented earlier into a comfortable shape around himself and snuggled down, he fell asleep before he could even think about it.

*******

He woke as dawn was staining the sky, finding himself slowly rubbing himself along the sheets, he gasped as he felt the desire ripple through his body. His cock was hard and the sheets were cool. He reached down and touched himself, a few pulls and he was coming over his hand and the bed. He felt wetness on his thighs and reached round to touch his hole. A slippery wet substance was coating it, and when he pushed a finger inside it felt so different to when he’d fingered himself before. It was like heaven, so much better than the quantities of lube he had had to use before. He wondered what Victor’s cock would feel like slowly sinking inside him and nearly came again from just imagining it, letting out a groan of “Victor.”

A soft, “Yuuri?” came to him, it sounded like Victor was whispering in his ear. Yuuri forced himself back to the present and pushed  himself up until he was sitting on his knees, remembering about the linked sound between the rooms.

“Victor?” He said, louder this time.

“How are you feeling, my Yuuri?” Victor’s voice was rough, as if he too had only just woken up.

“I...I’m thinking about you Victor. I’ve never seen you naked. I...I don’t know what your cock looks like and I need to know Victor.” Yuuri slowly pushed his finger back inside and moaned.

Victor drew in a sharp breath and moaned, “Yuuri. Are you...are you touching yourself?”

“I...yes, I need your cock Victor, I’m so wet for you.”

“Fuck, Yuuri. I need you too...I...want to...fuck you.”

“How big are you Victor, I want to use a toy that’s like you. I want to imagine that it’s you with me, inside me.”

“Yuuri, you sound so desperate.”

“I am, Victor.” Yuuri had two fingers inside himself and his other hand massaging his cock and it wasn’t enough. “Tell me..how big...please. I should have asked...before.” Yuuri stumbled over to the box they had looked at earlier.

“I’m about 8 inches Yuuri,” Victor gasped out, “In the box...in the box, there’s a light blue–”

“Got it.” Yuuri grabbed the light blue vibrator and thanked whoever had set up the box so that they were all different colours. He quickly squeezed lube over the wand and fell back onto the bed burying his face in the pillows that smelt of Victor. “Talk to me Victor, tell me what you would do if you were here.”

There was a pause before Victor spoke, “if I were with you right now Yuuri, I would be worshipping your body with kisses, I would start at your neck and I would mark you as mine so that everyone knew you were taken. I would kiss down your front and suck your nipples.”

Yuuri rubbed with his hand at the base of his neck where the patch of rough skin was and moaned imagining Victor marking him. “Go on.”

“I...I would run my hands down your body, slowly, to your hips, where I would spread your legs wide open. I would warm up the lube and test you with a finger first.” Yuuri could hear Victor breathing heavily as he tried to speak calmly. “My cock would be straining to enter you, but I would add another finger and then another until you were moaning and begging me to fill you up.”

“Yes, Victor, please!”

“Are you ready for me Yuuri?”

“I..yes, please.”

“I would slowly push against you and I would be looking at you, lying beneath me, desperate and wanting.”

Yuuri fumbled with the toy and pressed it against his opening, crying out in ecstasy when it breached him. He heard Victor’s breath hitch and knew that Victor was touching himself as well.

“I...do...would ask if you’d like me to go fast or slow.”

“Fast, please, harder.”

Victor let out a long moan and Yuuri pushed the toy inside, nearly shouting in pleasure. He had used toys before, but had never felt like this, never felt that sex was so easy and enjoyable.

“Victor! Come for me Victor.” Yuuri pressed the toy in and out, babbling Victor’s name until he came. He lay breathing heavily before slowly removing the toy, gasping and clawing at the sheets in over stimulation. He had been so lost he hadn’t even heard whether Victor had come or not. He giggled to himself, still revelling in the euphoric feeling “Fuck.” He said quietly.

“Yuuri? Are you OK?”

“I...yes, I’m great,” Yuuri laughed, spread his arms wide on the bed and grabbed a pillow to clutch to himself sniffing deeply. “That was the best sex I’ve ever had. I can’t wait to experience the real thing.”

“Shit Yuuri, you have no idea what you’re doing to me. I haven’t come so hard outside of a rut for years.”

“Ready for another?” Yuuri dropped his voice into a sultry drawl and laughed quietly when he heard Victor give a long drawn out “fuck”.

~

Victor was struggling to keep up with Yuuri already and it was only the first day. Yuuri was obviously high on heat hormones and had finally dropped into a light sleep after Victor had talked him through his third orgasm. Although Victor had presented many years ago and had regular ruts, apart from when he needed to suppress them for diplomatic trips or tournaments. He had never spent his rut with anyone. Never cared to allow anyone to see him lose himself in the euphoria of a rut, but Yuuri was different. Yuuri seemed to have switched something in Victor, was it because Yuuri was his eligible mate? He found himself anticipating the result of the tests Chris was running and counting the weeks until his next rut was due. Would Yuuri agree to spend it with him?

Shaking himself out of the daze he was in he went to have a quick shower. The scent of his mate in heat was drifting through the room and it was making it difficult for Victor to think clearly, even when he wasn’t so turned on he couldn’t see straight.

Victor settled back down on the bed, waiting for Yuuri to wake up. He thought back over the last few weeks, how he had gradually fallen for the young man from Earth, and that now he would do anything to remain by Yuuri’s side forever. He chuckled as he imagined the disappointment of the small fan base he had on Proxima from his sporting days. He had often been touted as the perfect mate, the media would harp on about his looks and athleticism, but all it did was make him feel hollowed out, like an empty vase, beautiful to look at but purposeless. Until Yuuri, Victor smiled, Yuuri was the bouquet of flowers in his vase. Victor chuckled, what was happening to him? Next thing he knew he’d be spouting bad poetry all over the place as well as corny one liners. He heard Yuuri groaning and immediately his cock reacted. “Yuuri?”

“Victor. I still need you.”

“I know my Yuuri, I’m here for you, always.”

~

Yuuri had lost track of time, in the drunken stupor of his euphoric hormones. He couldn’t remember how many times he had come but he could tell from Victor’s voice that he was exhausted. Yuuri knew that after the effects had worn off he would feel incredibly guilty for forcing Victor into this position, but for now he just needed to know that Victor was with him and would protect him and take care of him.

Yuuri could feel that his muscles were sore and slightly stiff but he didn’t care as his body called for its mate. Called for the one person in the universe who could have made these changes occur in Yuuri.

“Victor. How long has it been?”

Victor’s voice was quiet. “I can’t wait to be with you again Yuuri. I want to kiss you and touch your skin and I will be able to in a few hours.”

“Victor,” Yuuri moaned, moving once more as desire overtook him again.

*******

Yuuri woke up still slightly groggy but with a mostly clear head. He lay with his eyes open for a few minutes just trying to assess the state he was in. He was horrifically sticky and could tell that he was going to feel it in all his muscles when he tried to move. He remembered the last 3 days with surprising clarity, and grinned. It was totally unlike being drunk, he could actually remember everything. His heart flipped over when he remembered how Victor had been there for him all the way through, how could he ever repay Victor for the dedication and devotion he had shown?

The door chimed and announced Dr Giacometti, Yuuri grabbed the nearest thing which turned out to be a pillow and covered himself with it before hoarsely allowing Chris to enter.

“That was quick, I’ve only just woken up.” Yuuri croaked.

“Don’t worry Yuuri, your biosigns told us roughly when you’d wake up so I came as soon as we knew you were awake,” Chris said. “How are you feeling?”

“Does that mean that you or someone, heard everything we said?” Yuuri felt like sinking into the mattress never to be seen again.

“No, no it’s all monitored by the computer. It’s programmed to listen for distress levels in your voice or distress words and only then will someone listen. Privacy is respected here.” Chris’ voice had a slightly offended tone. “Virtually everyone on this planet goes through this Yuuri. I check on everyone personally just after they’ve come out of their heat or rut, it may help you get back to normal quicker. Can I help you to the shower?”

Yuuri looked at the ceiling for a moment before he answered, “Chris, I stink, I’m disgusting, I really don’t want anyone seeing me like this. Please could you go away.”

Chris smiled, “Do you know how many times that’s been said to me Yuuri? Don’t worry, all I need to do is see you move, your bio-signs have been monitored for the last three days, we know you’re healthy and not dehydrated, you coped really well, better than some people born on Proxima. Just get up and walk to the bathroom and I’ll go and wake up Victor.”

Yuuri felt a stab of guilt. Victor _had_ been devoted to Yuuri over the last three days.Yuuri knew that Victor had got no more sleep than he had, but he was still talking to him and showing his love. Yuuri wanted to call it love, because it had to be more than just simple lust for Victor to go through that for someone else. Just the thought of the handsome silver haired man was enough to get Yuuri longing to touch him again.

“Yuuri!” Chris was lightly touching his arm, “your heart rate just went through the roof, calm down.”

“I thought my heat was over Chris?” Yuuri looked over at the beta in concern.

“It is, what did you just think about?” Chris grinned when Yuuri turned bright red. “Ah! Go and get cleaned up and I’ll get someone to sort out the room and let Victor in when you’re done.”

Yuuri swung his legs off the bed, and hissed as the sudden movement shot pain through his stiff muscles. “Shit! I thought I was fit.”

“You are, a heat really takes it out of you. Don’t forget you haven’t eaten properly in 3 days. I’ve got a whole range of post-heat food lined up for you and Victor as soon as you’re ready.” Chris wagged a finger at Yuuri, “And I will eat with you to make sure you eat slowly and gradually over the course of a few hours, and not make yourselves ill by eating too much in one go.” He grinned, “A good excuse to laze around and recover.”

Yuuri staggered across the room, trying not to groan too much as his abused muscles protested the different movement. But the shower was blissful and the hot water and feeling clean again was like paradise. He put the robe back on and came out to find that the room had been tidied and the bed remade.

“Great you look so much better. I’ll give you a few minutes to get dressed while I go and tell Victor that you’re fine.”

Finally dressed and feeling human again, Yuuri had barely any time to get nervous before the door to his room slid open and Victor rushed through.

“Yuuri!” Victor rushed towards him and before Yuuri could speak he was enveloped in a tight hug and pulled up on to his tiptoes. He hugged Victor back and buried his nose in Victor’s neck, breathing in deeply, he felt Victor do the same. He finally felt at home. Chris eventually coughed and they released each other reluctantly.

Yuuri felt like he never wanted to let go of Victor ever again. Is this what love felt like? Yuuri still wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he would fight to stay at Victor’s side for as long as possible.

~

The two days they spent at the clinic waiting for Yuuri to recover fully were bliss. Chris had been firm and Victor also wouldn’t allow anything heavier than making out while laying together on the bed. Yuuri had to admit that they were probably right. They met Chris for dinner in the evenings and Yuuri got to know more about Victor and Chris’ friendship, how they had grown up together and some of the pranks they had got up to in their student days. The only thing Chris seemed to be sad about was that he’d never found a life partner. Yuuri was amazed, on earth someone like Chris would have been in great demand.

~

“How do you feel Yuuri?” Chris asked as they walked into his office on the final morning of their stay.

“I feel good. Thank you Chris, for all your kindness.”

“Well, I have some interesting news that I can now tell you as you’re about to leave the clinic. From your blood test results it turns out that you are Eligible Mates. What that means is that your heats and ruts will synchronise quickly when you spend time together. It also means that if you choose to bond with each other, you’ll form a stronger bond than most. You will be very uncomfortable spending a lot of time apart and if you spend too long apart the bond will fade. It is something that will have to be taken into account by your embassy Yuuri and by Lilia, Victor, if she asks you to go on future diplomatic missions.

“What do you mean by bonding Chris?” Chris’ eyes opened wide at Yuuri’s innocent question.

“I take it that you’ve not heard of the term before?” Chris waited for Yuuri to shake his head before continuing, “well, bonding on Proxima is part of a formal ceremony and taken quite seriously. The bonded pair will mark each other, usually on the scent glands on their necks, the bond forms a link between the two, based on pheromones. A bonded pair, for instance, will be able to sense their partner from across a crowded street or room. I’m not sure how that will work with you two, as we have very few Eligible mate pairs to help us gather data.”

Yuuri thought back to his instinctive desire to bite Victor’s neck on board the ship and his eyes widened, “Oh!” He let out an involuntary exclamation. Chris and Victor both looked at him and he covered his face with his hands. “InearlybondedwithVictorontheship.” He said through his hands.

“Yuuri?” Victor was gently pulling his hands away from his face, “What is it? We couldn’t understand that.”

Yuuri looked up, his face a picture of worry, “I...I nearly. I wanted to...on the ship. I stopped myself.” Sliding his glance round to Victor, Yuuri saw that Victor had a look of amazement on his face, his eyes were sparkling and huge. “Victor?”

“My Yuuri! You wanted to bond with me even then?” Victor turned to Chris, “Chris, how soon can we hold a bonding ceremony?” Yuuri spluttered and Chris roared with laughter.

“I think you need to let Yuuri settle in first Victor. Maybe think about that after you’ve shared a heat.” Victor looked crestfallen at Chris’ words and Yuuri tightened his grip on Victor’s hands.

~

Chris took it on himself to oversee the transfer of all Yuuri’s luggage to the embassy lodgings. Telling Yuuri with a wink that he was Victor’s oldest friend and therefore Yuuri was also now Chris’ honorary oldest friend and as such any help Chris could provide could not be refused.

Victor had also refused to let go of Yuuri’s hand ever since Yuuri’s confession in Chris’ office and accompanied Yuuri to the embassy lodgings.

Yuuri was, at first, awed by the surroundings. The embassy was in the government district of the city with the offices they needed on the floor below and individual apartments on the top floor of the high rise building. The rest of the team greeted them on their arrival. Phichit launched himself at Yuuri as soon as they stepped out of the hover car and Yuuri was amazed to get gripped at the shoulders by Yakov once he had got free of Phichit and slightly shaken.

“I’m very glad to see you fit and well Yuuri.” Yakov accompanied this with another small shake and a hefty pat to the shoulder. Minami bounced up to Yuuri and started pulling him into the building.

“Yuuri! You’ve got to see this. The apartments are SO nice and the view is amazing. What was it like at the clinic? Do you feel any different? Are you OK?”

Yuuri closed his eyes for a moment, he should have expected this from Minami, but he still wasn’t quite prepared to answer Minami’s type of grilling yet. Thankfully, Yakov roared at Minami to stop it and leave Katsuki alone. Yuuri jumped and Minami dropped Yuuri’s hand as if he’d been burnt. Victor’s scent surrounded Yuuri as his hand came over Yuuri’s shoulder.

“I’m sure Yuuri won’t mind answering your questions once he’s had time to settle in Minami.” Victor said smoothly.

Yuuri swallowed and smiled awkwardly, “I’ll be around later this evening and I’ll tell you a bit then Minami.” He felt Victor grip his shoulder and he inhaled Victor’s scent which immediately calmed his nerves.

Phichit had come forward with Victor, “don’t worry Minami I’m just as curious, but you’ve got to give Yuuri time.” He banged Minami on the back and walked past the slightly stunned young man. “Come on Yuuri, I can show you where you’re staying.

Yuuri looked around the apartment that was apparently his for the time he was a member of the embassy on proxima. He had never had so much space to himself in his life. “I’m going to rattle around in here, it’s so empty.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll fill it quite quickly. Do you want any help unpacking or shall I leave you two lovebirds alone?”

Yuuri rolled his eyes, “Phichit , you’re a great friend, and I’m so glad you’re here, but I just need a bit of time to let my brain catch up.”

“There’s some food already in the cooler for lunch.” He lowered his voice to a horrified tone, “ _There are no replicators here!_ ” Phichit then punched Yuuri lightly on the shoulder and winked at Victor, “See you later guys!” and sauntered out of the apartment.

Yuuri looked at Victor who reached up a hand and brushed a stray bit of hair off Yuuri’s forehead. Yuuri allowed Victor to pull him into a hug and turned his nose into Victor’s neck allowing himself to feel that sense of home and security Victor’s scent gave him. He felt Victor seek the same reassurance from Yuuri and he never wanted to let go. Until, that is, his stomach decided to be completely unromantic and protest it’s emptiness loudly. He felt Victor ‘s shoulder shake with laughter and they pulled apart.

They found the food in the cooler and sat at the counter to eat. The silence stretched out for a while until Yuuri spoke, “Victor...you sounded very enthusiastic about a bonding ceremony when we spoke with Chris this morning. We’ve only known each other for four weeks. How can we tell if our relationship is...is going to last.” Victor looked as if he was going to interrupt so Yuuri hurried on, “I’m only an engineer and you’re a Senator, a famous sportsman and you’re aunt is the leader of a whole planet!”

Victor looked down for a bit and Yuuri wondered if he was going to agree and call the whole thing off, he felt his heart sink. “Yuuri, I know you have only been on my home planet a week and all of that spent in the clinic at that. I don’t think you realise what a big deal this is for Proxima, what a big deal _you_ are for Proxima. You’re bringing us transporter technology, families will be able to visit each other in the blink of an eye, even though they’re separated by several hours normal travelling time. You are going to revolutionise how we go about our daily lives.” Victor reached out for Yuuri’s hand and gripped it tightly.

“You also haven’t had the chance to look at our society and how it functions. We don’t take mating or bonding lightly. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that I did. I realised that evening when you came to my quarters on the ship for dinner that I’d fallen in love with you. Even before you presented I knew that I wanted to spend time with you developing our relationship.” Victor brought Yuuri’s hand up to his mouth and kissed Yuuri’s knuckles gently, “and now, now I know that I never want to be parted from you, I want you to be my mate and I want us to make a life together.” Victor paused, looking seriously at Yuuri with a blush spread across his cheeks.

Yuuri could feel his cheeks were warm as well from Victor’s speech and he struggled to find words that would express what he was feeling, he looked down at the countertop. “I never had a very high opinion of myself, I always struggled to see myself as anything other than ordinary. This whole thing,” Yuuri shrugged, “is so much to take in.” He looked up at Victor, “But I have realised over the last few days, that what I feel for you is unlike anything I’ve felt before. Where ever this takes us, I want it to be with you.” Yuuri tried to show Victor the intensity of his feelings with his eyes. “It feels selfish, but I’ve never felt that I want to hold on to someone as much as you Victor.”

The tall silver-haired man rushed around the counter and gathered Yuuri into his arms. He used one hand to push Yuuri’s chin up and gently pressed his lips to Yuuri’s. “I love you, Yuuri Katsuki.”

Before Yuuri could think about replying, he was being thoroughly kissed and Victor’s hand was sliding down his back to grip his backside. Yuuri’s head spun and when Victor gradually released him he just stared into Victor’s face. “I’m sorry.” Victor said, “I didn’t mean,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “I just felt–”

Victor stopped when Yuuri put his finger to Victor’s mouth, “I love you too Victor Nikiforov. Will you be my mate? Will you spend my next heat with me and all the ones after that?”

Victor’s jaw dropped and his eyes sparkled as he breathed, “My Yuuri. Yes, yes, always yes.”

Yuuri felt as if his heart was going to explode it was so full. Tears ran down his face.

“What’s wrong, Yuuri?”

“I’m just so happy. I never thought that my worst fear coming true would ever result in happiness like this.” Victor wiped the tears away from Yuuri’s face.

“We should finish lunch and unpack your things.” Victor said with a smile.

Yuuri nodded and then thought, “Will you stay with me?”

“Yes,” Victor’s eyes widened and he looked guilty. “Ah...um...I hope you don’t mind, but earlier on I agreed to visit Lilia and collect Makkachin this evening. I never found the right time to mention it to you. Would you...would you come with me? I would very much like to introduce you to Lilia as my mate.”

Yuuri swallowed, “Of course Victor, it would be the least I can do.” and pulled Victor in for another hug.

~

The hover car deposited them at the entrance to a large penthouse apartment in the middle of the city. Yuuri nervously adjusted his uniform until Victor firmly took his hand and walked them inside.

Yuuri stood awkwardly as Victor greeted his aunt, the premiere of Proxima. Lilia Baranovskaya was even more formidable in person than on a screen. Dressed severely and with high heels giving her already stately figure even more height she commanded respect. Victor, of course, greeted her like the family she was, leaving Yuuri unsure of his place in this scene.

“Victor, I see your trip hasn’t changed you at all. Now, introduce me properly to your mate.” Lilia looked Yuuri up and down and he swallowed wondering how she was going to eviscerate him. Instead she smiled and as soon as she did her whole face changed becoming softer. Yuuri tentatively smiled back. “Lilia, i’d like you to introduce you to Lieutenant-Commander Yuuri Katsuki, our expert in transportation technology and my mate.” Victor’s smile was enough to relight a star and Yuuri had trouble looking away.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you face to face Lieutenant-Commander, call me Lilia in private. I look forward to getting to know you better after you’ve settled in.” They all turned at the sudden commotion behind Lilia as a brown ball of fluff rushed up to Yuuri and bowled him over. Yuuri lay on the ground slightly stunned as his face was licked by a large brown dog. He started to smile and put his hand up to push the dog away from his face. The next thing he knew, the dog was being pulled off of him.

“Makka! You didn’t greet me first?” Victor’s voice was wounded and the dog finally released Yuuri and switched to slobbering all over Victor.

Yuuri pushed himself up off the floor to see a manicured hand being held in front of his face. He looked up to see Lilia frowning down at him. “I apologise, Makkachin was meant to be kept back until we had greeted you.” Yuuri cautiously took Lilia’s hand and was pulled to his feet. Lilia turned to frown at Victor and the dog, “Victor, stop behaving like a child and look after your guest.”

“But Lilia, I haven’t seen Makka for seven weeks.” Victor whined. Yuuri hid a grin behind his hand.

“Tchh!” Yuuri heard a new voice from the direction Makkachin had appeared from. He looked round Lilia to see a short blond boy leaning against the wall just outside a door. His face was marred by a scowl as he stared at Victor and the dog.

“Let me introduce you to Victor’s cousin Yuri, he stays with me while he attends the ballet school here on Innessey.” Lilia turned and beckoned the blonde teenager forward.

Yuri just grunted and if it was at all possible his scowl deepened as he walked towards them. Lilia rolled her eyes, Yuuri could see a flash of annoyance. Yuri would probably be given grief for his attitude later on.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Yuri.” Might as well start using that diplomacy he was told he had.

“Same.” The teenager snapped.

“Yuri!” Victor interrupted, coming up to join them with Makkachin at his heels wagging her tail. “Thank you for looking after my girl so well while I was away.” Yuuri thought that he had rarely seen Victor so relaxed and happy.

“ _She’s_ no trouble.” Yuri sneered.

Yuuri tried to think of something diplomatic to say, but his brain presented him with no options faced with an angry teenager who looked as if he would like nothing better than to chew Yuuri up and spit him out. Yuuri tried not to smile either because he knew how well _that_ would go down.

“Do you have time to have a drink with us?” Lilia pointedly asked, ignoring Yuri’s attitude for now.

Yuuri smiled, “I don’t have any meetings until tomorrow, and I would be honoured to be your guest for a while Madam...Lilia.”

Lilia gestured for them to follow her and led the way into a large open plan living space. Pictures displaying obviously younger versions of Lilia performing various ballet roles were around the walls. Yuuri stopped in front of one to take a closer look.

“That’s from Giselle,” Victor said coming up behind Yuuri, “Lilia was the Prima Ballerina for years before turning to politics.

“Does everyone go into politics on Proxima?” Yuuri asked.

“It is encouraged, the government is better the more varied the experiences are before taking political office, and the population is more educated by being more closely involved with politics.” Lilia said from across the room where she was preparing a tray of drinks.

“Unless you have idiots like huge dork Victor in the senate.” Yuri commented from where he had sprawled on a nearby sofa. Yuuri snorted, bit his lip and looked at Victor who was also trying to contain a laugh.

“So Yuri, how’s the ballet going?” Victor asked.

Yuri gave a vicious grin, “I’m going to be the premiere danseur in two years, just you wait. I’ll kick your ass old man.”

“Yuri, please! At least pretend to be reasonable in front of our guest,” Lilia complained.

“You did ballet as well?” Yuuri looked at Victor again in surprise. “What can’t you do?”

“Well, I don’t know the first thing about technology Yuuri and even less about transporters, so I’m hoping you’ll explain a few basics to me.” Victor sat down with Yuuri on the opposite sofa to Yuri and kissed him on the cheek.

“Ew, gross.” Came from the other side of the table and Yuuri had to bite his lip again.

“Yuuri is my future bonded mate Yuri, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to it.” Victor said in a bright and breezy tone. Yuri’s jaw fell open and for once nothing offensive came out.

Lilia then came over and gave the spectacularly grumpy teenager a quelling look before sitting down and engaging Victor in talk about senate business. Yuuri was interested and started to ask questions. The discussion then turned to the merits and pitfalls of both governmental systems. Yuuri gradually became more and more hesitant about his replies and then dropped out of the discussion. Victor called a halt to when he noticed that Yuuri had nodded off on his shoulder.

~

Yuuri had managed to wake himself up by the time they arrived back at his apartment, Makkachin in tow. While Victor settled Makkachin and put away the food and toys they had brought with them Yuuri wandered out onto the balcony and soaked in the marvellous feeling of contentment and peace the whole city seemed to bring.

The lights of the apartments in the high-rise buildings gleamed, and the multi-coloured lights of the hover cars moving in between them looked like a slow moving firefly display. He leaned over the balcony and looked to the ground, where instead of roads there was vegetation covered walkways and paths. Tiny lights were strung amongst all the trees lighting up the whole area. Yuuri felt his heart expand. No matter how much they’d improved the air quality and the city planning on Earth they had never managed to make it this beautiful. The noises were so different too, it was more like living in a treehouse than a high rise apartment block, night creatures made humming noises and there was the occasional churr from some sort of flying creature.

How could he have known what would happen when he accepted this mission four weeks ago. He had gone from a small junior officer’s apartment back on earth to a luxurious penthouse apartment on a planet that looked like paradise. With, apparently, no prejudice at all against anyone, he still couldn’t quite believe it.

He turned to look back as he heard Victor step onto the balcony carrying a couple of glasses. Yuuri was dazzled once again by the handsome man who had waltzed into his life, turned it upside down and held his heart in a firm grip.

“Here, I raided Lilia’s wine store, she owes me.” Victor winked and gave Yuuri a glass and raised his in a toast, “To your new life on Proxima. I hope you’ll be happy here Yuuri.”

Yuuri shook himself out of his daze and raised his glass as well. The wine was similar to the one Victor had served on the night of their dinner date, but with a deeper undertone, it screamed seduction and decadence. “Thank you Victor,” Yuuri grinned, “Despite the awkward start, I hope I’m going to be happy too and I can’t wait to start exploring. Everything is so new! It’s so beautiful here and peaceful for a city this size.” He took another sip of wine and felt the alcohol go straight to his head. “That’s a strong wine.”

“I know,” Victor took Yuuri’s glass from his hand and put both glasses down on the table behind them. “Dance with me?”

“We don’t have any music.”

“I’ll hum.”

Yuuri laughed and moved into Victor’s arms as Victor hummed a waltz and they swayed together. Victor stopped humming, looked at Yuuri seriously and then raised Yuuri’s chin with his hand, placing a chaste kiss on Yuuri’s lips.

“My life was empty before I met you, Yuuri Katsuki. I had lost my way and didn’t know what to do next. You have given me back life and love. Thank you, my Yuuri. I have never been so happy.”

“Victor,” Yuuri paused to take a deep breath, “I was struggling on Earth with no confidence.” Yuuri smiled up at Victor. “Now, here I am in paradise, with you; in a world that accepts people like me for who we are and not what we are. I feel...so lucky. I never want this to end.”

“It never has to end Yuuri. You can stay. Forever if you wish.”

Yuuri moved closer and put his head on Victor’s shoulder. “Forever sounds like a dream come true.”

They slowly moved to music only they could hear as the noises of the night carried on around them.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that's all for now folks. This was part of the Victuuri Reverse Bang and we only had two months to put the story together so it was a wild ride. I would love to work on a sequel with Oxytreza, but I am in 3 other bangs (I'm mad, I know) so unfortunately it won't be for a while yet.
> 
> This was very much a joint effort and I could not have written the words without Oxytreza's guidance and support and Saniika's commentary :)
> 
> Our love goes back to you for all the kudos and comments.
> 
> Please let us know what you think.
> 
> Here is the link to [Oxytreza's art](http://oxytrezart.tumblr.com/post/175537347317/in-regards-to-dynamics-read-here-200-years-ago) please like or reblog, it means the world.
> 
> Huge thanks go to [Saniika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saniika/pseuds/Saniika), who, despite huge commitments elsewhere has done a fantastic job of asking those awkward questions while beta reading this story and it is much better as a result.
> 
> We’ve tried for a slight variation to normal A/B/O fics here where the secondary genders have built a world based on total equality and made the secondary genders irrelevant to how someone is treated. That doesn’t mean that the old world isn’t still prejudiced though.
> 
> I’m assuming (hoping) that there’s no need for glasses in 300 or so years.
> 
> A misomegist: Someone who thinks omegas and alphas are lesser people than normal humans (betas).
> 
> A padd is sort of equivalent to a tablet device.
> 
> Biobed - the medical bed used in sickbay full of electronic sensors which report on the status of the patient.
> 
> You can also talk to us on tumblr at [@narcissuspseudonarcissus](https://narcissuspseudonarcissus.tumblr.com/) and [@oxytrezart](http://oxytrezart.tumblr.com/)


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